Aliz D'Eberveni

I wonder how many Welsh folk are like me and look up Wales in the index pages while browsing in bookshops. You'll rarely find anything, even when there is plenty to say, since English historians tend to block out Wales in much the same way as Salopians and Herefordians block out the Welsh element in their county histories. How many inhabitants of those border counties know that a Celtic language continued to be spoken in some of their parishes long after proud Cornwall had lost its native tongue?

The Irish are little better with their ghastly lumping together of their neighbours, even the inhabitants of the Gaelic Western Isles, under the catch-all term Brits - a term that historically would be better applied to the Welsh alone. Anyway I did manage to see a recent episode of the BBC series The Story of Ireland with Fergal Keane. Far from breaking new ground the episode that I saw resembled nothing more than a school textbook retelling, and a pretty dull and unquestioning textbook at that.

From a Welsh point of view the episode was particularly annoying - the Norman conquest of Ireland was seemingly achieved by the English or, at best, the Anglo-Normans. A better term for these half-Welsh conquerors, few of whom would have even been able to speak English, is Cambro-Normans. Frustrated by their failure to make progress in Wales these descendants of Princess Nest turned to a more profitable field of conquest. I suppose Irish pride is better served by blaming the English rather than admitting the role of men like Robert Fitz Stephen who boasted of his Trojan, that is his Welsh blood:

"We derive our descent, originally, in part from the blood of the Trojans, and partly we are of the French race. From the one we have our native courage, from the other the use of armour. Since, then, inheriting such generous blood on both sides, we are not only brave, but well armed."

If the Cambro-Norman element in the conquest of Ireland is ignored then I suppose it is not surprising that Keane gave a new name, Alice the Vicious, to the murderous lady who axed 70 Irish prisoners to death. Her story is found in the French verse chronicle Chanson de Dermot et du comte where she is know as Aliz D'Eberveni or Alice of Abergavenny. If only she had been called something like Alice of Guildford she might have more easily fitted the victim agenda that the BBC claim the series avoids.

By the way this is a lively discussion site for keeping up with Irish happenings, history, prejudices etc.

Brecon and Radnor - Regional List Vote

The Brecon and Radnor constituency voted as follows on the Regional List at the recent Assembly Elections:

Tory 9181 (32.5%), Lib Dem 8271 (29.3%), Labour 5091 (18%), Plaid 2071 (7.3%), UKIP 1371 (4.8%), Green 1251 (4.4%), Socialist Labour 471 (1.7%), BNP 291 (1%), Christian 193 (0.7%), Communist 75 (0.3%)

Not much change from 2007 when the Tories also won on the regional list - Tories down 0.4%, Liberals down 2.1%, Labour up 5.3%, Plaid down 0.6%, UKIP up 0.3%, Greens no change, BNP down 1.7%

Vote in the actual constituency vote is here.

Gummer or Gummey

I can't say that I'm a great fan of the politician John Selwyn Gummer although I did applaud when he encouraged his young daughter to eat a nourishing beefburger during the CJD panic a few years ago. It's well known that Gummer's father was a South Walian but how many are aware that his family originated on the Radnorshire/Herefordshire border? Gummer's grandfather was born in Kington and his great-grandfather in Lyonshall, although to agricultural labouring Radnorshire parents from Old Radnor, who sensibly moved back over the border.

So who were these Gummers or Gumma as it is sometimes recorded in the census returns? For although the name is found elsewhere in England there is certainly a hotspot in the Presteigne and Kington areas. The obvious answer would be that it is derived from the Gumma farm on the road between Discoed and Presteigne, after all there's a Ieuan Voghan Gumma mentioned in a document dated 1481 and brought to light in E J L Cole's article Clandestine Marriages, The Awful Evidence From A Consistory Court, which appeared in the Radnorshire Society Transactions for 1976. Of course you can't be sure of such a connection without a lot more evidence and it's true that there are no Gummers in subsequent records such as the 1670 Hearth Tax. What you do find are names like Gummey, Gommey etc. which could, I suppose, be derived from another local placename Combe - there's a Rees Combe mentioned in Mr Cole's article along with his wife Deylee Wythell (I used to imagine that could be translated as Irish Deylee but it's more likely to be another local placename Weythell). Mr Cole considers that the name Agomey indeed means "of Gumma" so perhaps Baron Deben's roots are to be found in that particular farm after all.

Ramblings aside it is clear that the eastern fringe of Radnorshire - and it is very much a fringe in a county where the Welsh patronymic system predominated - did give rise to hereditary surnames derived from local villages and farms. I'll look at some of them later.

Radnorshire Names - Introduction

I suppose the classic work on Welsh surnames is the book of that name by T J and Prys Morgan, the father and brother of the blessed Rhodri. Another book well worth purchasing is The Surnames of Wales by John and Sheila Rowlands. I particularly like this latter book, which maps the geographical distribution of surnames based on marriages from the period 1813-1837. The maps reveal overlooked facts and pose a variety of questions. For example surnames as supposedly ubiquitous as Jones and Davies are shown to have quite striking regional strengths and weaknesses, being comparatively absent from some administrative hundreds.

Radnorshire contributes its share of puzzles, it falls for example within the South Wales range of the surname Gwynn which disappears in North Wales to be replaced by Wynn. Meredith seems to be a particularly Radnorian surname although one which spreads north west into Montgomeryshire and Merioneth. Of course Radnorshire, along with North Breconshire, is also the heartland for surnames formed from AP - Powell, Price, Prosser, Probert etc.

One wonders if these local variations are purely random or whether they reveal some cultural difference. If you look at Christian names in the 1670 Hearth Tax for Radnorshire you find some distinct variations between Rhayader and Painscastle Hundreds. In Painscastle names like Roger and Robert are fairly common whereas they are rare in Rhayader. Conversely Edward is a common Christian name in Rhayader Hundred but virtually absent from Painscastle. Does it mean anything?

Anyone growing up in Radnorshire would be aware of local surnames that don't quite fit the usual pattern of those names derived from the Welsh patronymic system - the Joneses, Davieses, Evanses and so on. You could call them English surnames if you wished, although some would have originated in the east of the county or just across the modern day border - Knill, Hargest, Rodd, Gummey, Whitney etc. and many others - Jarman, Cleaton, Ingram, Kinsey, Bound etc. - spread into the county from Montgomeryshire. Certainly numbers of such surnames have been in Radnorshire for as long as the "Welsh" surnames, since these were only adopted by Radnorshire folk in the late 16th to 18th Centuries - tor example there were Mantles living in Llanbister by the end of the 16C and the Buftons appeared on the scene before the Civil War.

While most Radnorians will be familiar with surnames like Hamer, Bywater, Bumford, Wosencraft, Weale, Wilding and so forth, some old names might well have dipped beneath the radar. In my case I wasn't aware of the longevity of surnames like Minton, Boulter and Tudge. It seems to me that it would be well worth examining the story of various Radnorian surnames (and Christian names) on the blog, not forgetting the added spice of the surnames of the Presteigne area, which are somewhat different to the rest of the county. Expect more posts on these topics.

Union Jock

So I guess circa 2016 the Union flag could look something like this.

Old Soldier

I thought this was quite an interesting cutting (click to enlarge) when I originally posted it back in 2007, but it hasn't attracted many hits. I guess that's because there weren't enough key words in the post for the search engines to pick up.

The Zulu prince who Joe Davenport and his companions from the 24th Foot captured was Dabulamanzi kaMpande who commanded the Zulu force at Rorke's Drift and fought at Isandlwana. The capture of Cetshwayo caused something of a controversy as Lord Giifard was awarded a £300 gratuity by Parliament which many felt should have gone to Major Marter, whose patrol actually captured the Zulu king.

Mr Davenport's three sons who were killed in the First World War are commemorated on this plaque in Howey Church. Unfortunately their name is spelt incorrectly. To compound that error the website has reassigned St David's church to St George. Heaven forbid!

For Sale

Bankers with £500K+ to spare might be interested in this Aston Martin DB 2/4 Cabriolet which Bonhams will be selling at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Did Innes Ireland once own the car? Well Bonhams say he did, so it must be true.

I know Ireland drove Aston Martin roadcars for many years while Sir David Brown was involved with the company. Employed as a Consulting Engineer his onerous task was to use the latest Aston as his daily transport and report back occasionally on the car's performance.

Innes was particularly fond of a Bahama Yellow DBS V8 which, like the others he drove, was actually the property of the company, not Ireland himself. Eventually the car had to be swapped for a less colourful version, it had became too well known to speed cops up and down the country.

The car driven by Roger Moore in the youtube clip above taken from the 1970s TV show The Persuaders is actually a faux version of Innes's car, an older six cylinder version badged up to look like the V8.

A Beautiful Prison?

How many of our local councillors and administrators ever use a local bus service? I'd hazard a guess that it would be a fairly rare event, although they might find it instructive to occasionally leave the comfort zone of the car.

For example I remember overhearing some elderly widows on a once-a-week Radnorshire bus service discussing the problems of being stuck in the countryside without transport. Having retired to the area from England, with no relatives within a hundred miles and their car driving husbands having subsequently kicked the bucket, Radnorshire was indeed their beautiful prison.

Some Belfast academics have been examining migration into the community council areas of Diserth and Llanyre. You can download a summary of their findings here.

From Melbourne to Monte Carlo

The posh and not-so-posh totty who raced around Brooklands and other pre-war motor circuits really were a remarkable bunch. Adventurers, mistresses, devourers of family fortunes, serial divorcees, admirers of Hitler, consumers of toyboys and members of the aristocracy competed against the top male racers of the day and sometimes beat them. One who did just that was the Australian Joan Richmond who drove her Riley to the start of the 1932 Monte Carlo Rally ..... from Melbourne! Later that year, with co-driver Elsie Wisdom, she took on the men in the Brooklands 1000 Mile race and won.

It's a shame that the exploits of these ladies have escaped much attention. Miranda Seymour wrote a book about the French racer Helle-Nice which gained a lot of media attention, having been written by a famous author; and Fay Taylour merited a biography which mainly concentrated on her speedway career. Meanwhile the likes of the stylish Kay Petre and Gwenda Hawkes, two of just sixteen racers to have lapped Brooklands at more than 130mph, are forgotten. Indeed Barbara Cartland's pathetic faux-race at Brooklands is better remembered than their real achievements.

Anyway it seems that a short book about Joan Richmond is being published in Australia, see here.

Llananno Girl?

I think my favourite Radnorian poem is Lewis Glyn Cothi's 15C request for a bed, made to four local good women. Here's a short extract followed by my attempted at a translation:

Y nos y câr fy nisyn,
Fwrw ei led ar gylched gwyn,
Cysgu awr, o cwsg erof
Estynnu uwch sidan of.
Tew o led, motlai ydyw,
Tyner rhag y tanrhew yw.
Lle meddal mal y plu man
Lle esmyth oll i hwsman.
Dis ysgwâr o gadas gwyn
Dôr uchel rhwng dau erchwyn,
Erw o ddillad werdd wellwell,
Allor gwsg yn llawr y gell.

My little dice loves the night, he throws himself on the white coverlet, to sleep an hour, stretched out on pure silk, away from me. It is thick and many coloured, tender against the scorching frost, a soft place of small feathers, a place of rest for a labourer. Square dice of white braid, a high door between two bed walls, an acre of superior green bedding, an altar of sleep on the cell floor.

Of course what the bard is really describing is the grave, in a poem which recalls, by the use of the words fy nisyn - my little dice, the well known elergy to his small son Siôn y Glyn:

Fy nwy ais, farw fy nisyn,
Y sy'n glaf am Siôn y Glyn.
Udo fyth yr ydwyf i
Am benaig mabinogi.

My ribs ache for Siôn y Glyn, my little dice is dead. I'll weep for evermore for a chieftain of childhood games.

So who were the four goodwomen? The editor of the 1995 edition of the bard's work identifies them as Gwenllian, the daughter of Owain Glyndwr who lived at Cenarth, St Harmon; Efa vz Llywelyn of Rhayader and Elen, a daughter of one Gruffudd Goch. His fourth identification Mallt, the daughter of Ieuan Fychan of the descent group of Rhys ap Tewdwr doesn't seem right at all to me. That Mallt came from Bryn Coch in Llansantffraid-yn-Elfael whereas the Mallt of this poem is described as:

Mallt ferch Ieuan Fychan fydd
Moliannus ym Maelienydd;
Elystan yn Llananno,
Hon yw y ferch o'i hyn fo.

Mallt the daughter of Ieuan Fychan will be praised in Maelienydd; this girl in Llananno is formed from the being of Elystan.

Now I don't know how accurate my translation is, but it seems to me that the bard is saying that she comes from Llananno and is descended from Elystan Glodrydd. A candidate might be an unnamed daughter of Ieuan Fychan of the small local descent group of Y Dean Du, her mother would have been from one of the many families claiming descent from Elystan.

Radnor Lad in a Daft Hat

A great snap of Innes Ireland pursuing one of his favourite hobbies, stalking game birds. In 1962 Innes earned £32,000 - anywhere between £500K and a million in present day terms. Mind you he did earn it, as his record for that year shows:

11/2, Daytona, 3 Hr, Ferrari 250 SWB, No7, retired lap 59
23/3, Sebring, 3 Hr, Austin Healey Sprite, No17, 7th
24/3, Sebring, GP d'Endurance Ferrari 250 TRI, No26, disq lap 128
1/4, Heysel, Brussels GP, Lotus 18/21, No2, 3rd
7/4, Oulton Park, GT Race, Ferrari 250 GTO, No3, 4th
7/4, Oulton Park, SC Race, Lotus 19, 1st
14/4, Snetterton, Lombank Tphy, Lotus 18/21, No6, retired lap 7
23/4, Goodwood, Glover Trophy, Lotus 18/21-Climax, No8, 3rd
23/4, Sussex Trophy, Lotus 19, No71, 1st
28/4, Aintree, 200, Lotus 18/21-Climax, No8, retired
28/4, Aintree, SC Race, Lotus 19, 1st
1/5, Circuit of Garda, Abarth 1000, No52, 2nd
12/5, Silverstone, Ferrari 156, No9, 4th
12/5, Silverstone, SC Race, Lotus 19, 1st
12/5, Silverstone, Saloon Car Race, Ford Zodiac, 1st in class
20/5, Zandvoort, Dutch GP, Lotus 24-Climax, No9, retired lap 61
27/5, Brands Hatch, BRSCC, Ferrari 250 GTO, 1st
3/6, Monaco GP, Lotus 24-Climax, No34, retired lap 63
9/6, Mosport, Players 200, Ferrari 246S, retired
11/6, Crystal Palace, Trophy, Lotus 24_BRM, 1st
17/6, Spa, Belgian GP, Lotus 24-Climax, No20, retired lap 8
23.24/6, Le Mans, 24 Hour Race, Ferrari 250 GTO, No20, retired lap 165, with Masten Gregory
1/7, Reims Grand Prix, Lotus 24-Climax, No30, 3rd
8/7, Rouen, French Grand Prix, Lotus 24-Climax, No36, retired lap 1
21/7, Aintree, British Grand Prix, Lotus 24-Climax, No32, retired lap 16
29/7. Indianapolis, Hoosier Grand Prix, Lotus 24-Climax, No11, retired
5/8, Brands Hatch, Guards Tphy, Lotus 19, 2nd
5/8, Brands Hatch, Peco Tphy, Ferrari 250 GTO, No76, 3rd
12/8, Karlskoga, Kannonloppet, Lotus 24-Climax, No4, 4th
18/8, Goodwood, Tourist Trophy, Ferrari 250 GTO, No15, 1st
18/8, Goodwood, SC Race, Lotus Monte Carlo, No11, 1st
26/8, Roskilde, Danish GP, Lotus 24-Climax, No10, 3rd
1/9, Oulton Park, Gold Cup, Lotus 24-Climax, No14, retired
1/9, Oulton Park, SC Race, Lotus 19, No15, 1st
11/9, Monza, Italian Grand Prix, Lotus 24-Climax, No40, retired lap45
22/9, Mosport, Canadian GP, Lotus 19, retired
30/9, Kent, Pacific NW GP, Lotus 19, retired
7/10, Watkins Glen, American Grand Prix, No15, 8th
14/10, Riverside LA Times GP, Lotus 19, 5th overall, 1st in class
21/10 Laguna Seca, Pacific GP, Lotus 19, retired
4/11, Mexico City, Mexican Grand Prix, Lotus 24-Climax, No15, 3rd
2/12, Nassau, TT prelim, Ferrari 250 GTO, No4, 2nd
2/12, Nassau Tourist Trphy, Ferrari 250 GTO, No 4, 3rd
8/12, Nassau, Texas Race, Ferrari 250 GTO, No4, 3rd
9/12, Nassau, Governor's Trophy, Lotus 19, No 6, 1st
16/12, Kyalami, Rand Grand Prix, Lotus 24-Climax, No5, retired
29/12, East London, South African Grand Prix, Lotus 24-Climax, No11, 5th

This was at the start of the jet set age with Innes able to race in Canada on a Saturday afternoon and still make it back for a Formula One race at Crystal Palace on Whit Monday - no time to practice though, Ireland started at the back of the grid, passed everyone and won the race. Making the Rand Grand Prix in South Africa, however, meant missing the prize-giving evening at Nassau in the Bahamas. The organisers were so pleased they withheld Ireland's race winnings.

At a time when most of our rock-stars were still pimply faced youths, racing drivers like Innes and actors such as Burton were pioneering the hell-raising lifestyle emulated by so many in the years to come. A good thing? Check out your local High Street on a Friday night.

A Little Local Colour

What a pleasure, after the minus 20C temperatures of December, to find the hedgerows and fields of Radnorshire festooned once again with colour. Yes, the Assembly Election approaches and our Liberal and Tory supporters have been out in the sunshine planting their bright Kirsty and Chris placards.

How different things are today, with both parties in happy union at Westminster, compared to the bitter rivalries of the 1890s. Then the Welsh Land Commission was set up by Gladstone to conduct "a thorough, searching, impartial and dispassionate inquiry" into Welsh agriculture and its problems. For the Tories this meant extolling the virtues of landlordism, while the Liberals were able to once again relate the iniquities of tenants being evicted for voting Liberal or for attending the wrong church.

Whereas in much of Wales this all harked back to the last non-secret vote of 1868, in Radnorshire the accusations were of a more recent nature. Evan Bufton, a Llandrindod auctioneer who had recently lost his Liberal seat on Radnorshire County Council to a Tory, accused J P Severn of Penybont Hall and his elderly sister of evicting tenants for refusing to say which way they would vote.

The tenants were unwilling to testify in person but Jeffrey Jones, a thirty something Llandovery born haulier and prominent Llandrindod Liberal - he was later proprietor of the Brynawel (now the Glen Usk) Hotel - was willing to stand up and be counted. Interestingly Thomas Owen, the 78 year old Abbeycwmhir born gardener Miss Severn was accused of dismissing from her employ, was recorded in the 1891 Census as being a Welsh speaker.

Last of the old school, first of the new

Surprised to see an article about Innes Ireland in today's Sunday Herald newspaper.

Also very surprised to find that my long deceased Innes Ireland website has reappeared on the web, albeit in zombie like form.

Brampton Bryan

Following on from the previous post, most of Sion Ceri's praise poems were composed to patrons living in Montgomeryshire although a few do concern Radnorshire folk. One example is a praise poem to Siams ap Rhys (James Price) of Mynachdy (Monaughty).

According to the editor of the 1996 edition of Sion Ceri's work there was a puzzle about whom and where one of the couplets in the poem referred:

Iarlles oedd i'r llys heddiw,
A'i braint o nen Brontyn yw.

No doubt this little mystery was cleared up long ago, but if not I'd say it refers to Siams' second wife Elsbedd Harley of Brampton Bryan.

If that's the case the Welsh name of the Herefordshire village must have been Brontyn.

UPDATE: Would just like to clarify that Brontyn would have been a Cymricised version of an original English name, just like Prestatyn and Rhyl.

The People's Castle

I'd quite forgotten about the moves to purchase the site of Knucklas Castle for the nation. Like most local castles, the perspicacious Radnorians have long ago plundered the stone here for other purposes. Anyway the group behind the move have a blog which, like myself, readers may have overlooked, see here.

Of course Knucklas - and isn't the name unusual this far east in Wales for being partly Irish in origin - was linked by the medieval bards with King Arthur and Guinevere. Nearby Heyop was also a place of some significance, the 16C bard Sion Ceri comparing the town of Oswestry to the former glories of Heiob. Perhaps a lost tale would have explained the comparison.

All very mysterious. The Cornish have built a tourist industry on less.

Just Saying

Look I'm no expert but why do Welsh language media and bloggers, including the BBC and Golwg, use the name Gaddafi, surely it should be Gadaffi? After all the guy himself spells/spelt his name القذافي and that should be transliterated according to the rules of the Welsh alphabet, not that of its next door neighbour.

Thought Police

Google frightens me, I just had a hit from a keyword search for Seven Ages of Britain Anglocentric and I hadn't even posted anything like that, although I was certainly thinking about it. So since I've already been outed, here goes. I really shouldn't watch history programmes since I just end up shouting at the screen, which was why I stopped watching Question Time about 20 years ago.

Bettany Hughes on Roman Britain in the Seven Ages of Britain series on C4 was a case in point. Ms H didn't mention Wales, which was fair enough, no such country existed during that period, although England and the English seemed to crop-up fairly often. There was no mention of Caratacus or the slaughter of the Druids in Anglesey although Boudica did feature, more as some frustrated proto-UKIP supporter opposed by all those right-thinking Brits who'd signed up for the European project. Although she didn't have much time for the locals Ms Hughes also slipped in another bit of modern day PCism by trumpeting the multi-cultural nature of Roman Britain ( I wonder where all these folk are in the DNA record, it would be fascinating if they turned up). Her quotes from the tomb of Regina, the British wife of a Syrian flag-seller were revealing. Ms H read out the, well she called it Palmirian, inscription in an all-purpose Middle-Eastern accent, but the Latin sections in her normal RP voice. Couldn't she have used a cod-Italian accent for the Latin? Maybe public-school types see themselves as successors to the Patricians and therefore in no need of a silly accent when mangling Latin? Anyway we never did find out why flag-selling was such a profitable business in Roman "England."

Meanwhile ......... the Western Mail announces "a month-long investigation by the top historians of Wales into those people and concepts viewed as saints and sinners throughout Welsh history." The announcement comes complete with pen-portraits of the top historians and examples of their own personal heroes and villains. These tend to be decidedly boring: Bush, Murdoch, Thatcher (yawn) . I think I could enjoy a pint with the fellow who lists Tom Pryce as a hero and a pair of "snivelling traitors" from 1283 as villains though. Pride of place in the eccentricity stakes must go to the historian who lists Mike German as a hero and Lloyd George as a villain.

Magnificent Mid Wales

Chattering Classes

The usual crowd are up in arms because Midsomer Murders employs no Black actors and therefore doesn't reflect contemporary Britain. Oh yes it does reply the usual crowd, since there are certainly no blacks here in Scratchy Bottom or wherever.

Er .... haven't any of these people noticed that Midsomer is a fantasy? There are no Scots in Midsomer, no Irish, no Geordies or Brummies or Scousers. No working class characters, (OK you might glimpse the occasional cleaning lady) no council houses, no houses with unthatched roofs for that matter. Yet surely the English middle class should be allowed their magic realism? Costume dramas no, but after all foreigners seem to like John Nettles and it's made by ITV, so no poor people have been dragged through the courts in order to pay for it.

No, what I object to is the one ethnic minority who have been featured in Midsomer ...the Welsh. An episode that was actually filmed in North Wales, that starred Sharon Morgan - for my Builth readers, she's the one who played the topless French bird in Grand Slam. Good heavens the soundtrack even featured Myfanwy. This can only mean that the fantasy world of the English middle class encompasses the Welsh - Welsh scenery and male voice choirs at least. How wrong is that!

UPDATE: A spoilsport points out that DS Ben Jones was also Welsh, this is true but is rarely mentioned, also he was from Cardiff and hence only mildly exotic.

Is Batman Welsh?

Radnorians with an interest in family history are quite well served by the internet. As well as the collection of pre-1858 wills mentioned in the last post, there is also the huge collection of pre-1600 genealogies compiled by the late P C Bartrum - and yes it does seem as if Batman was Welsh. With the digitisation of the Radnorshire Transactions, the 1670 Hearth Tax return for the county is now available on-line, as is the Lay Subsidy of 1543-45, another record which lists hundreds of heads of households in the county at the time of its formation.

Looking at the Lay Subsidy the overwhelming majority of Radnorians alive when the Acts of Union were passed were still using the patronymic system. Surprisingly this is true even for Stanage in the far east of the county. Only in and around Presteigne do surnames predominate, some of very local origin. In the town itself we find the Welsh bard Morgan Elfael listed, as well as a harper and a crwth player. Apart from the occasional plague it must have been an interesting place with its mix of languages and probable bilingualism. Knighton, on the other hand is a smaller and much more Welsh place in 1543 compared to 1670. In the rest of the county surnames are rare and the occasional Tailer or Smyth is clearly a job description rather than an hereditary surname.

Around 200 of the heads of household listed in the county are women and some 90% use patronyms, mostly using the vz = ferch formula. Welsh forenames are still common, around 20% are called Gwenllian and versions of Angharad, Goleu, Tanglust and Dyddgu make the top ten of most popular names. Other Welsh names are Gwenhwyfar, Tudo, Lleucu and a name which one comes across in Radnorshire and only rarely elsewhere: Deili. Other popular female names are versions of (spelling wasn't formalised in the 16C) Margaret, Agnes, Maud, Elen and Catherine.

Roots in the Air

The 16th Century wills transcribed by the late Mr E J L Cole in numerous editions of the Radnorshire Society Transactions must have been an eye-opener to any member labouring under the misapprehension that the county was somehow not part and parcel of mainstream Wales. After all the likes of Angharad verch Lello Bedo ap Madock of Llanvihangell Rhidython (1563) or Jevan ap Hoell ap Gwallter of Nantmell (1587) were hardly likely to have sprung out of an anglicised society. Indeed for the majority of Radnorians, not able to grapple with the extensive bardic literature or the elegant prose of Mr Payne's book Crwydro Sir Faesyfed, these wills must have been a most obvious confirmation of the area's Cymric heritage.

As one of those for whom the word mañana suggests an unnecessary degree of urgency, I'm full of admiration for the likes of Mr Cole, beavering away in the archives during their leisure time, and long before the internet made most Radnorshire wills available at the click of a mouse. Mr Cole also had that tabloid sense for a good story which makes history more accessible, this for example.

What to make of this enigmatic article by Mr Cole in the Radnorshire Transactions? Radnorians should be able to guess the location of "the great rock that stands close to the church of Paternus" and with the census available on-line, at a price, it's now easy enough to identify the people, but what was Mr Cole's relationship to the old lady who in true Radnorshire fashion would not want to see her name in print "bringing shame and notoriety on her family."

The Time Between

Here's Innes Ireland explaining to British Racing Partnership chief mechanic Tony Robinson how he has just crashed out of the 1964 French Grand Prix at 135 mph. This is from an old BP film, the full version of which also has some footage of Innes flying his plane and at home in Radnorshire.

A feature of the film I found interesting was that Innes and Graham Hill, neither of whom came from well-off backgrounds, speak with those posh 1950s accents you hear in films of that period, while Mike Hailwood, a millionaire's son, doesn't. Mike was ten years younger than Innes and Graham and, I guess, a product of the more egalitarian 1960s.

Motor sport fans can spot Bette Hill, Bruce McLaren, his wife Pattie is on the pit counter, Americans Phil Hill and race winner Dan Gurney, Jack Brabham, Stirling Moss, Raymond Mays, Tim Parnell and is the bearded mechanic jazz musician Owen Maddock? I'd like to know who the kohl-eyed lass in the BRP pit is though.

Elephant on the Doorstep

Well my fears for the referendum proved groundless with a resounding swing across all parts of Wales. People rightly complain about the turn-out but there's nothing to suggest that the stay-at-homes would have voted any differently.

This is the result we should have had in 1979, but which, thanks mainly to the Kinnockites, was delayed for a third of a century. The future belongs to those who have no memory of that defeat and the shrinking band who oppose Home Rule have to realise that there's a rather large elephant sat on their doorstep.

A Sad Tale

WDL came from what was described as a respectable and well-connected Radnorshire family. Maybe it was this that landed the young clerk his job as a relieving officer with the Builth Poor Law Union in the early 1870s. Of course the Builth Union included the Colwyn District of Radnorshire, all except for WDL's home parish of Glascwm which was hived off to the Kington Union.

Young WDL, he was in his early twenties, married and proceeded to father a sizeable family. Yet somewhere along the way he started to go off the rails. At that time next of kin were expected to make a financial contribution towards the keep of their relatives in the newly built Builth workhouse . It was part of WDL's job to collect such funds. Unfortunately the money handed over by the likes of Mr Powell of Disserth, Mr Williams of Crossgates and Mr Worthing of Llanyre ended up in WDL's pocket rather than the coffers of the Union.

Worse was to come when WDL cashed a cheque for £50 at Builth's National Provincial Bank, money meant for distribution to the poor. Instead the relieving officer took to his heels, with Sergeant Flye and Constable Meade in hot pursuit. A month later he was apprehended on the streets of London. Sentence, at the Breconshire Sessions, 12 months imprisonment.

Unfortunately this was not the last time WDL's name appeared in the press. A year after being released he was back before the Breconshire courts charged with embezzling his employer, a local brewer. WDL conducted his own defence and so ably that the jury found him not guilty. This despite more that a dozen recent convictions for drunkenness, assaulting the police and damaging railway carriages. Leaving the Court a free man WDL was immediately rearrested on another charge.

This new charge was heard before the Cardiff police court, WDL - described as living at Pendre Villa, Builth - having borrowed £34 from a Cardiff moneylender, Solomon Blaiberg, by forging his father's signature on a promissory note. His father, by now living in Hundred House, explained to the court that he could not infact sign his name.

A few months later WDL was before the Bristol Quarter Session accused of stealing books from a local hotel. Again he defended himself and such was his eloquence in the face of overwhelming evidence that the jury found him not guilty. The judge somehow failed to notice this detail and sent the delinquent to jail. The next day his honour, having been made aware of his mistake, was forced to bring the newly shorn prisoner back from prison to be released.

WDL's unfortunate wife, together with her young family, had by this time been dispatched to Builth workhouse, where she was to spend the next 30 years or more, firstly as an inmate and then as an employee. What happened to WDL? By 1891 his wife was describing herself as a widow. Who knows, he may indeed have been dead.

Gwynt Teg

I see that Llandod blogger and defeated LibDem councillor David Peter would like Powys to "re-join" England. I'm guessing this isn't official LibDem policy. Surely there must be an easier way for Mr Peter to escape the clutches of Greater Cardiff?

UPDATE: With the Republic having recently given up its hard-won independence in exchange for a loan to pay off other people's debts and now with Ireland beating "the Hun" at cricket, perhaps we'll soon be seeing the 26 counties "re-joining" England. Lord help them.

Once We Were Heroes

Thanks to Karen for these snaps of the fabulous Llandod football team of the early Sixties.

The great thing about that all-conquering team - check out their League record in the 1961-62 season, 3 points dropped and an average 4 goals a game - was that so many of the team were Radnorians, not mercenaries from Swansea or Liverpool.

It was my delight to cycle in to Llandrindod on my Triumph Palm Beach, newly purchased for passing the 11 plus, to watch the men in blue. Sometimes for lack of funds we'd be forced to sneak onto the Broadway field, across the brook and through the hedge, to avoid paying at the gate. Then positioned beside the goal to watch ace forward Barrie Gittoes knock in a few more winners.

Sad to relate Barrie has just passed away - in my memory at least his goals were all spectacular and like the very best players he had aeons of time - a trap, a turn and a thunderous shot into the back of the net.

Thought for the Day

Andrew Pierce, a columnist at the Daily Mail, contrasts the political representation of Wales and Massachusetts. The American state, he says, has a mere ten elected representatives while Wales has 40 MPs and 60 AMs. Pierce forgot about the 4 MEPS.

So is Massachusetts really run by just 10 representatives? Of course not. Apart from its 2 US Senators and 10 Congressmen, it also has 40 State Senators and 160 members of the State House of Representatives.

It's an unfortunate fact but a lie does indeed go half way around the world before the truth gets its slippers on.

Epynt Races, Part 2

There's a great site detailing the Epynt races of the late 40s and early 50s, see here.

Hope the site owner won't mind me ripping this fabulous snap showing the start of a race in 1948. It's not just the bikes but the people in the crowd which reminds me of how things used to be. The past another country? Indeed.

Epynt Races, Part 1

Thanks to Builth remembrancer SGP for showing me this programme from the 1951 Epynt motor cycle races.

Someone should revive these races, but for historic bikes. Would make a change from the ghastly over-painted, over-powered, often badly driven rally cars which dominate the hills nowadays.

Shebeening

Shebeening isn't a word that you find very often in the popular press nowadays. Back in Victorian times it was common enough and not just in Ireland or the Scottish Gaeldom. Shebeening, the keeping of an unlicensed drinking establishment was also found in Radnorshire during the building of the Elan Valley dams.

Policemen disguised as navvies roamed the hillsides, calling at lonely farmsteads and asking for a glass of ale. Farmers or their wives who obliged and accepted payment were dragged off to court to be fined - £10 plus costs or a month in jail for example- more than £4000 in comparison with today's average earnings.

One for Miss Marple

So is this latest piece of Innes Ireland Memorabilia really worth £35? At least it's genuine, unlike many of the "original" photographs you currently see for sale. Originally copied from magazines and books that is.

Llandrindod Cover Girl

Curigwen Lewis (1936)

The Spike

It comes as something of a shock to realise that I'm old enough to have worked with a fellow who was born in Rhayader workhouse, or the Spike as they were called. Anyway Radnorshire had an interesting relationship with the New Poor Law responsible for such places, some of which is explored here. Indeed Thomas Frankland Lewis of Harpton, New Radnor was chairman of the gang of three Commisioners who oversaw the operation of the new act in England and Wales, he was succeeded by his son George Cornewall Lewis in 1839.

Edmund Head, who we recently met endorsing the view that the Welsh were a "miserable race of Celtic savages", was the assistant commissioner responsible for Central Wales and Herefordshire. One of his tasks being to set-up the six Poor Law Unions covering Radnorshire - Rhayader, Builth, Hay, Knighton, Kington and Presteigne. Mr Parker's article, linked to above, shows that Head deliberately sought to weaken Radnorshire influence over these Unions:

"The inhabitants of the central part of Radnorshire are exceedingly ill disposed towards the Board ... the only way of enforcing the Act is to unite as many (parishes) as possible with unions in England or on its borders."

By doing so Head hoped to "raise the character of the Radnorshire farmers." elected to serve as Guardians overseeing the Unions and would, presumably, learn from the superior character of their fellow Guardians from east of the border.

Of course Head was correct to mistrust the good folk of Radnorshire who were surely ill-disposed towards the Malthusian world-view which inspired the new laws. Builth Union - which included 10 Radnorshire parishes - resisted building a workhouse for 38 years until forced to do so in 1875, while Rhayader Union resisted until 1878. The Radnorshire guardians seemingly happy to continue with the outdoor relief, often in cash, which our Malthusians saw as an encouragement to the poor to breed.

thirtysomethings

Here's some jolly correspondence between three thirtysomething pals dating back to 1837, which might provide a clue as to the atmosphere that marked the rapid retreat of the Welsh language in Radnorshire during the early decades of the Nineteenth Century.

First off we have George Clive, future Liberal MP for Hereford, expressing his "fervent prayer" that the devil would fly away with the Welsh or "this miserable race of Celtic savages" as he describes them/us.

"Amen" echoes the recipient of the diatribe Ed Head, a future Privy Councillor and Governor of Canada, who in deference to the third of our correspondents asserts that "Wales begins just beyond New Radnor". Ed does however see some hope for the Welsh since "the railroads .... may civilize them in about three centuries."

The third of our Liberal pals is George Cornewall Lewis, "Radnorshire's most distinguished son" and a future Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer, whose monument once dominated the main road into Mid Wales. Of course Lewis lived at Harpton, hence the need for friend Head to push the English border a couple of miles further west. Six generations of marriage to English brides combined with an Eton education had certainly expunged any memory of what had once been a distinguished Welsh family and Lewis is quick to agree with Clive's opinion of the intelligence of the Welsh. However, he laments "how that intelligence is to be raised, while they retain their villainous Celtic language, it is not easy to see."

Cornewall-Lewis considered the Welsh to be cowardly and timid, perhaps he had a point. His letters are available here.

Coming Soon - Hopefully

A couple of frustrations this morning, firstly it's impossible to get on to the London government's new site "police.uk" to check out local crime, but more importantly the National Library's Welsh Journals site is playing up. Now for the good news: it's obvious that they have just added the Radnorshire Society Transactions to the journals available online. Hopefully the present search difficulties will be sorted out soon.

I've never been a member of the Radnorshire Society, it always seemed far too bourgeois an organization for a young council house hot-head such as myself. OK no doubt I got that all wrong and it is infact a wonderfully welcoming society open to all. One gripe I still have though, why is it I can pick up a current copy of Brycheiniog - journal of the Brecknock society - in local bookshops, but not the Radnorshire Transactions? Surely it, and especially works as important as the recent translation of Payne's Crwydro Faesyfed, should be available to as wide an audience as possible?

Anyway it looks as if those earlier, hard to find issues of the Transactions will soon be on-line for all to read.

UPDATE: Four of the top ten violent streets in England and Wales turn out to be in Wales. Not very good considering that on a population basis it should be one in the top twenty. Perhaps it's time to hand over law & order to the Assembly.

FURTHER UPDATE: Radnorshire Transactions are there now. See here. Bravo!

Green Green Grass

I suppose most informed Welsh people will already know that Mrs Mubarak's mother was born in Llwynypia, although obviously not Welsh Office dinosaur David Jones. It's even been said that she once lived in Laura Street, Pontypridd, previously only noted for being the old home of retired hip shaker Tom Jones.

A Google search wouldn't reveal it but Mrs M's nain was a slate worker's daughter from Llanddeiniolen, one Lily Parry, the family originating from Anglesey. Who knows they might even be related to the distaff side of another celebrity couple who have done rather well at the expense of the public purse.

UPDATE: Bit of bad timing here, the Eisteddfod ask Suzanne Mubarak for a pair of shoes for a charity auction. No seriously!

Penny Note Book - part 2

The first three extracts are from 1899. The Gramophone appears in Aberedw in 1901, probably a model like this. The pretty bird appeared in 1906 - I guess it's too late to report to the Radnor bird blog. In the same year the pious old lady of Llanbadarn y Garreg met with her accident.

Agony Aunt

W.G. of Llanyre writes:

A friend of mine was recently reading a post from Llandod blogger and former Lib Dem councillor David Peter. Ever since she has been fretting about the upcoming referendum on more powers for the Welsh Assembly. Is there anything I can do to set her mind at rest?

Radnorian replies:

Dear W.G. tell your friend not to worry. Although Mr Peter needs "to be convinced that more powers for the Assembly is not merely a milestone on the way to full independence for Wales" the referendum is just about more powers for the Assembly. It could equally be a milestone on the way to the fully federal Britain that the poster advocates. The present vote has nothing at all to do with full independence. Unionists should remember that they were responsible for breaking up the original United Kingdom by continually standing in the way of devolution for Ireland.

Mr Peter also worries that the Assembly has no revising chamber. Well tell your friend that many countries get along fine with a single chamber legislature - New Zealand, Sweden, Finland and Norway for example. Also all the Australian, Canadian and German federal states.

Mr Peter does have a point when he complains about East Wales not having much influence within the current Welsh Assembly Government. No doubt this wouldn't have been the case if the Lib Dems hadn't pulled the plug on the proposed Rainbow coalition. Perhaps local voters should cast their ballot for parties who want to participate in government rather than putting their own internal party bickering before the interests of the people of Powys.

Bees and Bonnets

A few months ago in the Western Mail, historian Dai Smith worried that what was described as the Renaissance of Welsh History in the second half of the 20C had run out of steam. One author who has certainly courted the controversy and debate which Dai Smith cites as a positive feature of that renaissance is the author of this little book.

Dr Breeze believes that the Four Branches of the Mabinogi were written by a woman and that the author can be identified as Gwenllian, the daughter of King Gruffudd ap Cynan of Gwynedd and wife of Gruffydd ap Rhys, Prince of Dyfed.

Now as one of the mere consumers of history I'm in no position to comment on the validity of Dr Breeze's theory and it certainly hasn't been accepted by his academic contemporaries. At the same time the author makes a lucid, circumstantial case and, although he cannot prove it, challenges his detractors to come up with detail that proves him wrong.

The book is published by a Leominster company called Gracewing who seem to specialize in works of Roman Catholic interest.

Dr Breeze has been described as having a bee in his bonnet about Gwenllian. Perhaps a few of our Welsh academics could be persuaded to unleash some of the bees lurking in their own headgear rather than retreating to what Dai Smith describes as "the cloister of the Learned Journal."

Dorothy Levitt, Update

Dorothy Levitt was a secretary at the Napier Motor Company around 1903 when proprietor Selwyn Edge hit upon the idea of entering a woman in early Motoring events. Edge probably hoped that this would popularise the car with women and Dorothy soon proved herself an able and spirited driver. You can read about her on the excellent Speedqueens blog - here.

Soon Dorothy was an Edwardian celebrity but around the end of the decade she seems to have disappeared as quickly as she came into view. Despite being something of a feminist icon - check out my post on her only sporting foray into Radnorshire - and the subject of recent television shows, no-one really seemed bothered as to who she was or what became of her.

A couple of years ago I came up with the theory that Dorothy was actually a Jewish typist born Elizabeth Levi - my comment on this post sets out the reasons for the identification.

Now some genealogists with access to the probate records have confirmed the identification (see illustration above) - Elsie Ruby Lewis being shown through the BMD records to be Dorothy's or rather Elizabeth Levi's sister.

What became of Dorothy between 1913, when she had an apartment in Portman Mansions, and her death in 1922 remains a mystery.

Outlanders

Fed up with no longer being able to bore your workmates and relations with talk of how much your house has gone up in value? Well I don't suppose many Radnorians spent the 1970s buying Welsh language LPs, but if you did you might just have a new topic of conversation. Say about this or this or this or even this.

Did You Ever

Cardiff blogger Babylon Wales has come up with visual proof of Radnorshire songbird Maralene Powell's 1972 musical adventure with Gareth Edwards. I'm guessing Gareth has a better singing voice than current Welsh scrum-half Mike Phillips.

Penny Note Book

Yesterday while helping to clear out a house, I found a liitle penny note book. It contains occasional diary entries starting on January 17th 1899 and ending on September 23rd 1908. The author was a Nina Price of Pencraig, Llanbadarn y Garreg. At the time of the first entry she was a 15 year old pupil at Llandrindod County School and lodging in the town, the last entry records her father's funeral. The other entries include visits to fairs, concerts and church services, together with reports of local elections, fires, accidents and tragic deaths. Maybe I should send it to the county record office.

I doubt if there's been much skating on Llandrindod Lake this winter - Health & Safety has made cowards of us all - perhaps to the relief of the birds on the excellent Radnor bird blog.

Who They?

A little quiz for any motor sport fan who still checks out the blog. It's the 1962 British Grand Prix - not 1961 - probably the most anglophone race in history and the cameraman obviously couldn't bear to film anyone who drove a non-English car. First eleven are straightforward, you only see the back of driver six but who else wore yellow overalls.

My guesses here:

Graham Hill, Ginther, McLaren, Maggs, Jim Clark, Trevor Taylor, Surtees, Salvadori, Brabham, Innes Ireland, Masten Gregory, Ian Bugess, Tony Settember, Jack Lewis, Wolfgang Seidel, Jay Chamberlain, Tony Shelly.

Merry Christmas

OK I know the BBC and the Met Office both inhabit the wacky-world of AGW. Oh and I do realise they've been grossly underestimating Mid-Wales' temperatures over the last couple of weeks ...... but haven't they over compensated a wee bit on the cold side with their maximum temperature for Christmas Day? A day time max of -13C? I do hope Santa has checked the anti-freeze in his reindeer.

UPDATE: The Met's all time lowest maximum daytime temperature for Wales was -8C. I recorded a high of -8.7C during the day so I wouldn't have been surprised if the official December record (-5.5C) had been broken. Seems it wasn't. Strange that.

Traffic Update

The Hereford to Aberystwyth downmail stagecoach was brought to a halt by the snows on Radnor Forest. Thankfully the passengers had disembarked and the horses been unharnessed when an avalanche swept the coach from the road and left it buried underneath a fourteen foot drift. The stranded party managed to find shelter at the nearby Forest Inn.

In case anyone is worried this was in January 1854, not this morning.

Small Earthquake, No-One Hurt.

OK I realise my blog is getting boring now.

Musical Interlude

Oh dear I'm afraid the sound of all these plummy-voiced Trot students is making me nostalgic for Uncle Joe.

News

Here's a turn-up for the books, Sir Stirling wins the Innes Ireland Trophy. I wonder if they considered giving it to the guy who mugged Bernie? Sir Stirling telling it like it is to the Daily Telegraph here, and a little off-camera tale about Innes at the end.

Where Did You Get That Hat?

Innes Ireland's last two World Championship outings in 1966 were in privateer Bernard White's clapped out BRM P261. BRM seem to have been in the habit of selling on old bangers, talented faux Welshman Jack Lewis ran out of enthusiasm for the sport after he acquired one of the Owen Organisation's sell-ons.

Anyway Innes qualified 17th out of 19 starters in that year's US and Mexican races, both times having to retire with mechanical problems. A career that had promised so much certainly ended with a whimper.

Ages ago, on what was then the premier racing history forum on the net, I asked the question "Bernard White who he?" No-one really knew that much about him, which is rather typical of a scene where the history of cars takes precedence over people. There's gold in them thar cars after all. Well nearly eight years after posing the question my forum query was answered, Bernard was the brother of financial buccaneer Gordon White, the brains behind Hanson PLC.

One day we might get an answer to one or two other puzzlers. Was the first Yank to compete in F1, Robert O'Brien, actually a CIA operative? Did the Vicomtesse de Walchiers really exist or was her team a CIA front? Here we're harking back to the early 50s so I doubt anything is going to turn up on Wikileaks.

Anyway that's a rather chunky Innes with Bernard White, pictured at the 1966 Mexican Grand Prix. Hopefully Ireland was wearing the hat as a joke. A few months later and he would finally move out of Downton to leave New Radnor in peace. Any Ffransis Paine fans who have read this far may be interested to learn that Innes (or at least Innis) gets a couple of passing mentions in Crwydro Sir Faesyfed. I wonder if his name has been spelt correctly in the recent translation?

It's Our History

When I was a kid I don't think Radnorshire had a history at all. I guess someone must have been vaguely aware of one, since we pupils at the local high school wore a blue and yellow uniform, the colours of the Norman claimants to the county - the Mortimers. Come to think of it the school badge was the Mortimer coat of arms as well. A bit of a strange choice really.

Radnorshire didn't have a culture either, it's literary figures were all outsiders - Shelley's brief sojourn at Nantgwyllt, Wordsworth's distant connection with Hindwell. A few years later and Powys County Council was pushing the line that Radnorshire wasn't even Radnorshire, it was Kilvert Country.

Perhaps most insulting of all, Radnorshire in the eyes of many Welsh people from outside the county wasn't even Welsh. In the words of Iorwerth Peate we were: "a deracine people, a people fallen between two stools, a community of half-things." Nice.

Anyway that's the background from which I approach the recent Elystan Glodrydd jamboree in Llanbister. Reader Rob reproaches me for posting a link to that event, "please return to posting about the real Radnorshire of poaching, tai unnos and Rebecca, and ignore this sentimental crap." And of course what he says is true: toffs celebrating some remote link with a man who might never even have existed, God Bless the Prince of Wales toasts etc. But it's not the whole truth as the day seemingly also saw Dai Hawkins flogging copies of his translation of Ffransis Paine's Crwydro Sir Faesyfed and John Davies explaining that the Abbey at Cwmhir was founded by our local princes not the Mortimers. It's bound to have raised awareness of some actual history.

Since I was in school Radnorshire has certainly begun to rediscovered its own history and culture, a history and culture that is part and parcel of mainstream Wales. Our history doesn't have to be the sole possession of any foreign establishment, hyphenated or otherwise.

A Rebeccaite Attack

The Rebeccaite attack in the Claerwen valley on September 10th 1868 is retold in two must-have books, see here and here. At the same time we can add a few more facts with the help of a report in the newspaper Baner ac Amserau Cymru and the census returns.

The Nanteos estate had built a shepherd's cottage on Esgair-garthen in Llanwrthwl parish with the purpose, in part at least, of harassing the stock of local farmers who traditionally grazed sheep and cattle on the open mountain thereabouts. Perhaps the shepherd took his duties a little too seriously, for his home was soon subject to a visit by 15 or so Rebeccaites with blackened faces. As chance would have it the shepherd was away and the house was occupied by his wife, baby son and ten year-old sister-in-law. The family's furniture and clothing were taken out and the house demolished and burnt along with it's stacks of peat and hay. Ms Bidgood reports that the china was put on the dung heap, which seems a mean thing, although in reality it was probably the safest place for them.

Seven of the attackers later appeared in Builth magistrates' court and it is interesting to note that the five easily identifiable individuals all originated from Radnorshire - William Palfrey and his son John from Dyffryn, Llanwrthwl were a Nantmel family, while John Lewis of Dolifor and Thomas Hughes of Cefn were born in Cwmteuddwr. John Scott of Ciloerwynt was also a Cwmteuddwr man. Two others cannot be identified with certainty although David Davies, a servant at Cefn, was most likely a Radnorian while Thomas Jones, a carpenter, was probably a Cardi.

No doubt for the shepherd's family this was as terrifying an experience as for those legally evicted from their homes on the commons. The Esgair-garthen action was part of an on-going very low level insurgency against those members of the ruling class who were seen as over-stepping the mark. To a degree it was a threat that kept the majority of landlords a tad more honest.

The prosecutor in the Builth court complained about the "Irish" character of the attack and like most of the cases where Rebeccaites were brought before the bench, there were no convictions for lack of evidence.

When We Were Kings

As Radnorians recover from the devastating news that Kate Middleton appears to have NO Radnorshire connections, readers can at least console themselves with this report on the recent Elystan Glodrydd celebration in Llanbister. See here.

Spot the Radnorian

Who is that seated behind charismatic President Herman van Rompuy on the European gravy train in today's Daily Mail? Why none other than Radnorshire MEP John Bufton. It's a puzzle as to why the Mail should shine the spotlight on the blameless Mr Bufton. I guess because their reporter spotted him signing the attendance register at 8am one Friday morning. Critics claim that this practice, which allows MEPs to pick up a £260 allowance, is a bit sharp as the MEPs then scoot off home without using the money for the purpose of subsidising an extra night in Brussels. But as Mr Bufton rightly points out, "That's our system."

Of course UKIP have been a bit unlucky, with a couple of their MEPs ending up in the slammer and, yes, their factions do seem to spend a good deal of time trading accusations of financial impropriety, but is that any excuse for the Mail to poke fun at one of the party's honest representatives?

No doubt UKIP will be ranting on about the cost of the Welsh Assembly during next year's votes. One might have a little respect for them if they refused to attend the European Parliament. It would save the taxpayer a fair sum and remove the temptation of these ardent Europhobes becoming part of "the system."

Late Town Extra

The news that Llandod mayor Gary Price has joined Plaid Cymru roused the town's dormant blogger David Peter from his well-deserved slumber to aim a little dig at Plaid's "xenophobia."

Ex-Councillor Peter (Lib Dem) is also amazed that the BBC's Mid Wales site should find the item "remotely newsworthy". A bit of a puzzle this, as it was obviously newsworthy enough to get Mr Full Pelt blogging again.

Anyway good luck to the industrious Mr Price. He might like to pick up ex-MP Lembit Opik's recently published book (pictured) as a reminder that some Lib Dems, at least, have a sense of their own absurdity.

The Men of Elfael

In Brut y Tywysogion under the year 1252 there is an entry that Elfael - and if you don't know that the cantref of Elfael covered what later became the southern half of Radnorshire, then you should do - was despoiled because the men of Elfael had illegally used the pastures, and here there's some confusion, of either Maelienydd or Elenydd. A couple of centuries or more later and the bard Lewis Glyn Cothi was requesting the gift of a stallion from the men of Elfael.

So who were these men of Elfael? It seems to me that they must have constituted a legal body. If individuals in Elfael had illegally grazed animals on a neighbouring cantref then surely they would have been despoiled rather than a group punishment being imposed. A group punishment suggests a group transgression. Likewise Lewis Glyn Cothi requested gifts from plenty of named individuals in poems where he praises their bloodline. In the poem below he requests a gift from a group and praises their country. He also expects the gift to come from a pound, an institution that would have had to be administered, presumably, by these men of Elfael.

Anyway it makes sense that the men of Elfael constituted some kind of proto-democratic body, along the lines of a Swiss canton perhaps. It is probably the natural organic system of local government that suits Wales. Of course now we're blessed with Powys County Council.

Request For a Stallion from the Men of Elfael by Lewis Glyn Cothi Blessed God, ‘til my last day, To the generous land that chases a stag. Once, long ago, I was young and cheerful, That was then, today I’m old, And with age comes bad temper, I’m an unwelcome pedestrian. Although I’ve had the gold of the fair lands of Elfael, Now I desire something more. I desire a stallion, One with a coat as black as charcoal. From the manor to the van, I’m not interested In some wild-tempered bay, A slim lion is what I desire, A strong giant or a rounded stag, As fair as that great stallion, his sire, As tame towards me as a sheep. Today it’s easy work to find him In the pound of the two Elfaels; And then like swan feathers, A smooth saddle to cover the horse, And a short bit in his nostril To stop him from jumping. I am as gentle as a swan, My stallion is gentle on my backside. Up top, my saddle is smooth, Like the van, I’m bald. The two best lands in all the world, The cultivated lands of Elfael, Idnerth Hir and Elystan turned them Into a land of fields, And then, full of riches, They were Einion Clud’s yard. Elfael has never lent her shoulder, Like so many lands, to an English tune. Elfael is greater than a thousand myriad, More than the fair of Man and her roads. Troy was broader than Greece, Wide in one fair whorl, Yet the Greeks and their turmoil Broke through the walls of Troy; The men of Elfael also go Through the wide lands of the earth. If there is a musician without A share of silver or mead, Let him drop his prices, let him search the Wye For silver, as far as Clyro; From Clyro, calling for strength In his heels, back to Diserth; From Diserth, and being honoured, Let him come to the land of Aberedw. In strength he will have cattle, In minted gold, in kind words, In corn, on the banks of the Edw, In great stallions, in greater happiness. Over Elfael, the Cross of Tyfaelog, And the Virgin, and the Cross and the Holy Rood, Let Dwynwen extend her cross Over the land of Mael, over fair Elfael, God’s will be done, below the land of Mael, And Sulfedd bless Elfael!

Gone Tomorrow

When I started wilfing around the internet nine or ten years ago one of the few web resources for language shift in Wales and also the English counties of Herefordshire and Shropshire was a site called Gwefan Catalunya-Cymru, indeed it seems to have been on-line since 1995. As far as I can tell the tri-lingual site - Catalan, Welsh and English - has now disappeared except for the odd page and what has been preserved in Google cache.

From what remains of the site here's a letter writer to the journal Seren Gomer in 1845, describing a snippet of conversation illustrating the process of language shift in Newbridge-on-Wye:

“Evan,” meddai un hen ŵr wrth y Bontnewydd, yn swydd Faesyfed, ag oedd yn tybied ei fod yn gryn dalp mewn gwybodaeth Seisnig, “go and fetch me the bar harn from the beudy.”
“Daid,” meddai y bachgenyn, which shall I bring from the beudy, the bar harn bach or the bar harn mawr?”

"Evan," said one old man from by Newbridge, in Radnorshire, who believed he had a fair grasp of English, "go and fetch me the iron bar from the cowshed."
"Grandfather," said the lad, "which shall I bring from the cowshed, the little iron bar or the big iron bar?"

UPDATE: It seems the Catalunya-Cymru site is back on line. Good, hope it stays that way, a lot of interesting info there.

Forgotten Radnorians - Sir John Clanvowe

Look up the soldier, diplomat and Lollard Sir John Clanvowe of Hergest (1341-1391) on Wikipedia and it says that he came from a Herefordshire family - of course his part of the Welsh March did not become part of that county until 1535. In reality the Clanvowes hailed from the lands which later became Radnorshire.

The Clanvowes were an interesting family, harbingers of the kind of gentry family who, a couple of centuries later, would abandoned their loyalty Wales. Although descended from Rhys ap Tewdwr, the Clanvowes, from the time of Hywel ap Meurig of Gladestry who died in 1281, served foreign masters and married foreign brides. Hywel ap Meurig, for example, held Cefnllys Castle for the Mortimers, later he was constable of the castle at Builth. The surname Clanvowe itself - one of the earliest examples of a Welsh family abandoning the patronym system - came from Hywel ap Meurig's wife.

Sir John Clanvowe - if his authorship of the Cuckoo and the Nightingale is correct then he was the first Welshman to write poetry in English - was the great great grandson of Hywel ap Meurig. Recently Clanvowe has become a topic of interest to historians of homosexuality since in 1913, during restoration work at Istanbul's Arap Mosque, workers reportedly uncovered the floor of an earlier Dominican church. Among the gravestones was one in grey-white marble with pink and blue veins. Two helmets faced each other as if kissing, this was the tomb of Sir William Neville and Sir John Clanvowe. Neville died within four days of Clanvowe's death having starved himself, I guess that would mean refusing to drink. Below the helmets on the gravestone the two knights' shields rest on each other, their coats-of-arms are identical, half-Neville, half-Clanvowe, an ‘impalement’, usually used to show the arms of a married couple, with Neville’s saltire on the husband’s half. Not unreasonably this has been taken as evidence that the pair were lovers. There have even been recent claims that Clanvowe created the Robin Hood legend perhaps as some sort of gay propaganda.

It's an interesting place, this borderland with it's Mortimers, Clanvowes, Oldcastles, Cliffords, Crofts, Whitneys etc. and its three cultures - English, Welsh and Norman-French living side-by-side. It needs someone with the appropriate linguistic tools to tell its story.