D is for Delilah and Dragon

Let me tell you first that I am Welsh. I come from Wales, a country once described to me as 'that bit on the side of England'. A proud would-be independent country with its own language, traditions and flag. A country whose mood can change in sync with the fortunes of its rugby team.

We can get very worked up at an international rugby game.

And we do love to have our allegiance clearly shown on our faces. This is me a few years ago in Cardiff for a game. You can tell it's taken before the match as my Welsh dragon is not yet smudged by tears - of joy or misery? Nobody remembers the score afterwards.

The dragon has been associated with Wales since Roman times when the cavalry were believed to have used a dragon emblem on their pennants. The dragon was later used by Welsh kings to symbolise their authority and later formed part of the Tudor monarchs' coat of arms. The flag of Wales as it is now was officially recognised in 1959.

Something else that features at Welsh rugby matches is the singing of a song made famous by Tom Jones, Delilah. Released in 1968 it tells the story of an unfaithful woman and her boyfriend's response - murder. (Interestingly there have been moves to have the singing of Delilah at rugby matches banned because it legitimises violence towards women. Police reports indicate that numbers of assaults on women increase after an international - regardless of who's won.)

When we travelled across the world two years ago to visit Malaysia and Vietnam I decided to take a dragon with me. The idea was that I would take photos of her in various locations so my grandchildren could follow our travels. Unreliable internet connection meant I wasn't able to maintain a complete log but nevertheless the dragon, whom I named Delilah, did get to see quite a lot of the world.

Here she is sunning herself on a beach in the beautiful Perhentian islands.

Other entries in ABC Wednesday can be found here.

ABC Wednesday - N (Belatedly)

N is for North Wales. We've had some lovely times in North Wales and we've had some wet ones.

The top of Snowdon covered in mist - although this time we did actually manage to get to the top unlike a previous attempt when it had been too windy for even the little train to go up it.
Prestatyn (press what in? as Husband is prone to say) sea front in June.
Llandudno sea front also in June.

ABC Wednesday - M

There was only one place I could possibly use for the letter M and that's Mumbles, village of my birth and home of my heart.

It's said that the name Mumbles comes from the French word 'mammelles' meaning breasts. It's claimed that the Normans sailing into the bay gave it that name because the two islands - that you can't see clearly in the above photo! - looked like breasts. (That's the French for you.)

Mumbles is a suburb of Swansea these days but once it was an independent village with a thriving oyster industry and in Victorian times became a popular holiday destination. On the edge of the Gower peninsula it's still popular with tourists and, it's said, that there is once again a thriving but secret oyster farming project in existence ...

When I was a child Mumbles was a village in a truer sense of the word than it is today. Everyone knew everyone else - and their business. Today the boundaries of many of the surrounding villages have, with the creeping in of new housing estates, blurred into a more amorphous blob.

Here you've got George (much younger!) and me on Mumbles hill with the village immediately below and behind us.
Both my great-uncle and later, when he retired from his job as an insurance man, my grandfather worked on Mumbles Pier, my uncle on the skee rolls and my grandfather in the kiosk entrance to the pier itself. Naturally the pier played a large role in my growing-up.

As a child I was scared to walk on its wooden slats but my Auntie Gay assured me that 'the pier could hold the Queen Mary' (the liner that was). I wasn't wholly convinced but conquered my fear, although to this day it's a major plucking-up-the-courage job if I'm to walk from the pier along the small bridge to the lifeboat house.

The last time we went on the pier, last year, it was in a state of disrepair and parts were sectioned off as unsafe. Now the entire pier is closed until a plan has been agreed/money has been found for its renovation.
I hope it can be saved. Mumbles wouldn't be the same without the pier.

To take part in ABC Wednesday go here.

ABC Wednesday - L

What else could I choose for the letter L but the village with the longest name in Britain?
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch meaning Saint Mary's Church in the hollow of the white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio of the red cave.

The town was originally called Llanfairpwllgwyngyll but had the extra letters added on in the late nineteenth century, some say as an early publicity stunt to attract tourists. It certainly worked as the small town on the island of Anglesey just off the North Wales coast is a popular tourist destination, everyone wanting to have their photo taken with the famous railway sign.

If you ever visit Wales you'll find hundreds of places beginning with Llan, which means church, such as Llangollen, (church of Collen), Llandeilo (Teilo), Llanmadoc (Madoc) and so on.

To take part in ABC Wednesday, go here.

ABC Wednesday - K

Swansea marina with Kilvey Hill in the background.

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ABC Wednesday - J

One of the surnames you'll hear most often in Wales is Jones, Tom Jones for example. Duncan Jones, Wales and Ospreys rugby player, is another. We spotted him bowling and I asked him to pose with Younger Son (right).
The particularly interesting thing about this is that the traditional Welsh alphabet doesn't include the letter J. It has 28 letters and, yes, the double letters count as one in crosswords for example:

a, b, c, ch, d, dd, e, f, ff, g, ng, h, i, l, ll, m, n, o, p, ph, r, rh, s, t, th, u, w, y

J is sometimes included in Welsh dictionaries now because it's used in words that we have 'borrowed' from English, such as jam or jar or garej.

So if there's no J in the alphabet how come there are so many Joneses in Wales?

Jones isn't of Welsh origin so to solve this mystery we have to go back through the centuries.

In 1536 England and Wales were united politically and the Acts of Union prohibited the use of the Welsh language and required all official documents to be written in English. Common Welsh names like Ioan or Ieuan or Sion were sometimes written down as John or Jones, those being the English names that sounded most similar.

So that's why we have so many Joneses without a J.

But, tell me, now are you surprised that there is some antipathy between the Welsh and their English invaders?

To take part in ABC Wednesday go here.

ABC Wednesday - I

I'm pushing a little today with my choice for the letter I. (In my defence, may I say that 'i' isn't used much in Welsh.)

So I'm going for Iron and Industrial Revolution. The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in North Wales is a monument to the Industrial revolution as it was one of the earliest aqueducts to use a cast iron trough. It took 10 years to build and was opened in 1805. It's 39 metres above the river Dee and carries water to Cheshire. Canal boats travel across it and there's a footpath too.

I tried to walk across it but had to turn back very quickly! Too scary. I was fine when we crossed it in the canal boat though.

You see the footpath and the railings on the right of the boat in the photo and nothing on the left! It's a long way down!

ABC Wednesday - G

This week it's G for Gower or Gwyr. The Gower peninsula is in the south of Wales - and I live at the very edge of it. It's about 70 sq miles in area and was the first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to be designated in the UK in 1956.

First the mudflats of the north Gower shore and estuary.

Then the cliffs of the south Gower coastline.

Only last month an archaeologist in a Gower cave came across a scratched painting, which is believed could be the oldest example of rock art - more than 14,000 years old - in Britain. Another reason to come and visit our beautiful Gower!

To see other entries and take part ABC Wednesday go here.

ABC Wednesday - F

Ffald-y-brenin is a Christian retreat set on the side of a hilltop in the wilds of west Wales. You can just see it in the very left of this photo. Ffald-y-brenin means sheepfold of the king and you can maybe see the sheep on the hillside too.
At one end of the accommodation building is the beehive chapel.It is built around bedrock that was impossible to move and which has become a feature of the simple chapel.

At the end of the hilltop a cross has been placed from which spot you get the view of the valley I tried to capture in the first photo.

To take part in ABC Wednesday, go here.

ABC Wednesday - E

This week I've struggled to find an E with a Welsh link that I have a photo of! One of my topics was obvious though odd but first may I present to you an example of an eglwys.
This little church (eglwys) is right on the beach at Aberdaron on the Lleyn Peninsula in North Wales and many pilgrims would have stopped there to pray before they crossed the water to Bardsey Island, which has been a place of Celtic pilgrimage since the very early days of Christianity.

My second choice for E is England. Yes, I know, bear with me, and I'll explain.

A few years ago the BBC used this advert, featuring the Stereophonics, prior to what I think was then the Five Nations rugby tournament, the five nations being Wales, Ireland, Scotland, France and England. One thing the first four had in common was their desire to beat England. Of course each side wanted to beat everyone else and win the tournament but the game that really mattered was against the English.

I think it was partly to do with the arrogance of the English team at the time but there was, and is, a deep-seated truth about the words. Maybe it has its roots in history. A nation invaded, defeated and long ruled by its stronger and more powerful neighbour.

I'm Welsh through and through and I can't explain it but this is fact: as long as we beat the English that's okay. Some would say it's racist and it would be hard to argue where a joke ends and racism begins especially in light of the spate of burning of second homes owned by English people in Wales in the seventies. But I'm married to an Englishman; I have no problem with individuals. I don't even worry about Wales being beaten by England in football.

But rugby ... rugby is the sport of Wales, the red jerseys are the life blood of our nation. Which is why it was especially pleasing that Wales beat England at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff last Saturday!

ABC Wednesday - C

This week for our look at Cymru, we're travelling to the north and coming a bit closer to home. But to set us off on our way what about a bowl of cawl?
Cawl's a traditional Welsh stew made with root vegetables and most importantly, lamb - Welsh lamb is the best in the world - and leeks.

Caernarfon castle stands proudly next to the Menai Straits. Edward 1 of England initiated its building in 1283 as a definitive part of his plan to control Wales. The first English Prince of Wales was born in the castle in 1284 and in 1969 the investiture of Charles as Prince of Wales took place there. It's a magnificent building and a recognised World Heritage Site.
Closer to home, one of George's favourite walks is in Clyne Woods.
To take part in ABC Wednesday, go here.

ABC Wednesday - B

Brandy Cove is one of the less easily accessible beaches on the beautiful Gower Peninsula. Which is just as well as if more than 5 people were there when the tide's in it would be crowded.

North Wales has its mountains; South Wales has its hills. The Welsh for hill is bryn, by the way, to explain why hills are appropriate for week 2/B.

There are three hill ranges in southern Wales within the Brecon Beacons national park. They are, from east to west: the Black Mountains, the Brecon Beacons, and the Black Mountain. (No, not a mistake; and to confuse us even more there is a mountain in the Black Mountains called the Black Mountain!)

Last year Husband and I visited the Black Mountains and walked up - and pushed GrandDaughter in her pushchair up - Sugar Loaf, one of the highest.

Bara brith (literally speckled bread) is a fruity spicy traditional bread. Served spread generously with fresh Welsh butter it's delicious.

My version isn't really traditional but it is very very good! If you'd like to try it, first put 325 ml of hot water in a saucepan and add 50 g butter and 375 g sultanas. Bring to the boil and simmer for 4 minutes. Allow to cool slightly.

Sieve 375 g self-raising flour into a bowl with half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and add 250 g sugar. Mix in the warm fruit mixture and 2 beaten eggs. Put in a large loaf tin and level a bit. Bake at 190 or 325 or gas 3 for up to an hour or until well-risen and a skewer stuck in comes out clean.

I check after 40 minutes and cover with foil if it's getting too brown.

ABC Wednesday

I've decided I'll join in again with season 9 of ABC Wednesday, the brainchild of Denise Nesbitt. It starts this week and I've chosen my theme for the season: Wales. It's partly in response to the fact that Wales isn't known very much outside of this country - not even recognised as a country by many who imagine it's just part of England.

Wales has an acient history as well as its own language and culture so I hope my posts will help people discover its beauty and wamt to see more of it.

For A I've chosen Abertawe, which is the Welsh name for my home city of Swansea. Aber means 'mouth of' and you'll find lots of place names in Wales that begin with it. In our case it's the mouth of the river Tawe, which isn't quite visible in this photo but the dip in the hills in the centre of the photo is the Tawe valley.

To participate go here.

ABC Wednesday - C

It was very easy to choose a picture this week. Almost the first image I spotted in my Webster's Dictionary was of this little chipmunk and I had the perfect photo to go with it.

To take part in ABC Wednesday Round 4, go here.

xx

ABC Wednesday - B

From Webster's Dictionary (probably from 1864).

In the inlets around Tofino, Vancouver Island, at low tide the bears on the isles come down to the seashore to look under rocks for crabs.

Meanwhile, in British Columbia, one bear is happy to graze in a field!

To take part in ABC Wednesday, go here.

xx

ABC Wednesday - A

So a new round of ABC Wednesday starts today (or strictly speaking, tomorrow). I decided I'd have a theme again and never being one to choose the easy option my new theme is quite complicated.

A few posts ago I wrote about dictionaries (which reminds me: Chambers never did reply to my email) and it reminded me of the old dictionaries that have sat on our bottom shelf for ever.

When I was a little girl, my mum was private secretary to the general manager of what was then South Wales Transport. One day she brought home from work, having been given them by someone who was clearing out, a pair of dictionaries. Webster's International Dictionaries, volumes I and II (although, unfortunately not Morocco-bound).

Today I tried to find out how old they are. The first couple of pages are missing but there is an 'Editor's Preface to the Edition of 1864' at the front so I would assume they could be about 140 years old. The pages are littered with lots of wonderful little illustrations, so I've decided to feature an illustration for the each week's letter followed by a relevant photo.

This first week, for the letter A, I've selected Aggregate.

(I did auto-correct on the dictionary photo to make it clearer and it's changed the colour of the page, which is really very yellow and aged.)

To join in with ABC Wednesday Round 4, go here.

xx