Discovering Welsh Graves


Book Description

This text refers to more than 300 Welsh graves and discusses not so much about the graves themselves but about the people buried in them. It provides potted biographies of the individuals involved and offers some intriguing juxtapositions.




Welsh Food Stories


Book Description

Welsh Food Stories explores more than two thousand years of history to discover the rich but forgotten heritage of Welsh foods – from oysters to cider, salted butter to salt-marsh lamb. Despite centuries of industry, ancient traditions have survived in pockets across the country among farmers, bakers, fisherfolk, brewers and growers who are taking Welsh food back to its roots, and trailblazing truly sustainable foods as they do so. In this important book, author Carwyn Graves travels Wales to uncover the country’s traditional foods and meet the people making them today. There are the owners of a local Carmarthenshire chip shop who never forget a customer, the couple behind Anglesey’s world-renowned salt company Halen Môn, and everyone else in between – all of them have unique and compelling stories to tell about how they contribute to the past, present and future of Welsh food. This is an evocative and insightful exploration of an often overlooked national cuisine, shining a spotlight on the importance – environmentally and socially – of keeping local food production alive.




Welsh History: Strange but True


Book Description

The earliest prehistoric burial in Europe was found in Wales. The skeleton was known as the ‘Red Lady of Paviland’ – well, until scientists discovered that it had, in fact, belonged to a man... ‘Rhodri the Great’, Wales’ first king, was killed by a Saxon army. The second King of Wales was killed by his own men... English armies usually contained Welsh bowmen. A Welsh-fired arrow could – and did – go all the way through armour, leg, saddle and horse. Welsh bowmen often used English longbows against them, firing them at point-blank range during ambushes...This book contains hundreds of ‘strange but true’ facts and anecdotes about Welsh history. Arranged into a miniature history of Wales, and with bizarre and hilarious true tales for every era, it will interest and delight readers everywhere.




The Arthur of the Welsh


Book Description

Little, if anything, is known historically of Arthur, yet for centuries the romances of Arthur and his court dominated the imaginative literature of Europe in many languages. The roots of this vast flowering of the Arthurian legend are to be found in early Welsh tradition, and this volume gives an account of the Arthurian literature produced in Wales, in both Welsh and Latin, during the Middle Ages. The distinguished contributors offer a comprehensive view of recent scholarship relating to Arthurian literature in early Welsh and other Brythonic sources. The volume includes chapters on the 'historical' Arthur, Arthur in early Welsh verse, the legend of Merlin, the tales of Culhwch ac Olwen, Geraint, Owain, Peredur, The Dream of Rhonabwy and Trystan ac Esyllt. Other chapters investigate the evidence for the growth of the Arthurian theme in the Triads and in the Historia Regum Britanniae of Geoffrey of Monmouth, and discuss the Breton connection and the gradual transmission of the legend to the non-Celtic world. The volume, which is unique in offering a comprehensive discussion of the subject, will appeal widely to medievalists, to Welsh and Celtic scholars, and to those non-specialists who have felt the fascination of the figure of Arthur and wish to know more.




Britannia's Dragon


Book Description

Based on extensive research, The Naval History of Wales tells a compelling story that spans nearly 2,000 years, from the Romans to the present. Many Welsh men and women have served in the Royal Navy and the navies of other countries. Welshmen played major parts in voyages of exploration, in the navy's suppression of the slave trade, and in naval warfare from the Viking era to the Spanish Armada, in the American Civil War, both world wars and the Falklands War. Comprehensive, enlightening, and provocative, The Naval History of Wales also explodes many myths about Welsh history, naval historian J.D. Davies arguing that most Welshmen in the sailing navy were volunteers and that, relative to the size of national populations, proportionately more Welsh seamen than English fought at Trafalgar. Written in vivid detail, this volume is one that no maritime or Welsh historian can do without.







Welsh Lyrics of the Nineteenth Century


Book Description

"Welsh Lyrics of the Nineteenth Century" by anonymous and translated by Edmund O. Jones is a collection of poems that celebrate Welsh heritage. Though the poems are anonymous in the text, each individual voice rings out uniquely. Though people with Welsh ancestors might find themselves most drawn to this book, everyone who reads it will be taken by the pride and love for the country that emanates from the pages.




The Prehistoric Chamber Tombs of England and Wales


Book Description

This 1950 book surveys what was known about prehistoric chamber tombs in England and Wales at the time of publication, reflecting on discoveries made through the excavation of numerous tombs in the previous fifty years. This book will be of value to anyone interested in megalithic tombs and the development of archaeology.







The Medieval Welsh 'Englynion Y Beddau'


Book Description

Edition and translation of this important genre of Old Welsh poetry.The "Stanzas of the Graves" or "Graves of the Warriors of the Island of Britain", attributed to the legendary poet Taliesin, describe ancient heroes' burial places. Like the "Triads of the Island of Britain", they are an indispensable key to the narrative literature of medieval Wales. The heroes come from the whole of Britain, including Mercia and present-day Scotland, as well as many from Wales and a few from Ireland. Many characters known from the Mabinogion appear, often with additional information, as do some from romance and early Welsh saga, such as Arthur, Bedwyr, Gawain, Owain son of Urien, Merlin, and Vortigern. The seventh-century grave of Penda of Mercia, beneath the river Winwæd in Yorkshire, is the latest grave to be included. The poems testify to the interest aroused by megaliths, tumuli, and other apparently man-made monuments, some of which can be identified with known prehistoric remains.This volume offers a full edition and translation of the poems, mapped with reference to all the manuscripts, starting with the Black Book of Carmarthen, the oldest extant book of Welsh poetry. There is also a detailed commentary on their linguistic, literary, historical, and archaeological aspects. translation of the poems, mapped with reference to all the manuscripts, starting with the Black Book of Carmarthen, the oldest extant book of Welsh poetry. There is also a detailed commentary on their linguistic, literary, historical, and archaeological aspects. translation of the poems, mapped with reference to all the manuscripts, starting with the Black Book of Carmarthen, the oldest extant book of Welsh poetry. There is also a detailed commentary on their linguistic, literary, historical, and archaeological aspects. translation of the poems, mapped with reference to all the manuscripts, starting with the Black Book of Carmarthen, the oldest extant book of Welsh poetry. There is also a detailed commentary on their linguistic, literary, historical, and archaeological aspects.