England, What England?

The Mid-West, North, & South-West of the country we now call England is undoubtedly Celtic. The country shouldn't be called England as the Germanics who landed there and who lent it their name after the heptarchie became united was conquered by the Vikings of the mouth of the Seine whom we call 'Normans', so the name 'England' should have disappeared with the conquest! Then there was the Angevin empire of which England was but a minor party, and the Plantagenet French wh ruled the country until the Welsh Tudors took over at the end of the 15th century; England, what England?

Our Heritage

Just been informed that Huw Lewis is our new education secretary. One of Neil Kinnock's disciples, as are most of the 'valleys' A.M.s; doesn't bode well for our language & heritage. When one thinks back to when the Vale was invaded by the Normans the valleys managed to keep the native language & laws with little interference. At least getting on doesn't necessarily mean getting out any more, and we are an officially bi-lingual country. A lack of objective education over the last 100 years or so has people believing that English (or Wenglish in its transitional form) is the language of the valleys, whereas in reality it's only become the prime medium of expression in Merthyr for example since the '20s, and in some parts of the borough only since the 60s. Unbelievable to listen to some people from the western valleys wantonly replacing their heritage & culture with that of a neighbouring country, throwing out thousands of years of history & literature; shame that the only world renowned Welsh poets such as the two Thomases, R.S. & Dylan were the first to write in that foreign Germanic/Latin tongue we refer to as English; without Cymraeg (Welsh) we wouldn't hear of perhaps the greatest romantic poet of the middle ages - Dafydd ap Gwilym. But there again it isn' our language is it; what blatant propagandist non-historic nonsense. I can only despair at such a wanton denial of a heritage that gave us Roman emperors, the second Pope, the first university; romantic poets of the middle ages, all before the English language existed. A heritage second to none that we shouldn't be afraid to shout about from the roof-tops & the hills (obviously we wouldn't) but where's the education, and who's the new education minister? I repeat 'I despair."

Another Fantastic Evening

What a fantastic evening with wonderful music; pity there weren't more people, improvised as it was. Tourists are starting to dribble in, Germans from Stuttgart yesterday, some cyclists are calling in to get out of this miserable weather, namely 3 men last friday who'd just cycled up from Foret de Fouesnant on their way to Uhelgoat; they approached the bar, and in their best French ordered a few beers, and in my best valley accent I advised the boys from Abercarn, Blackwood & Pontllanffraith which were the best choices available, having as I do the best beers of the region, if not further. Dumbfounded as they were on finding out that I'm from Merthyr we had a little chat, especially the bit about the one from Abercarn organizing a do in the local rugby club with Max Boyce who made them proud with a mention in one of his most famous rugby trip songs about 'The Boys From Abercarn'. Loads of live music since the reopening with a few quiet days, not being near any towns I'm fortunate in that people come so far out of their way. The beer I sell is artisanal (craft) therefore not of the 'popular sort', it doesn't go down well with the local farmers who prefer the gassy chemical sort of beer that they've been brought up with, but it does attract customers from all over the country, so I took a gamble to give up the majority of the locals and instead to have a minority of every town & village in Brittany (& elsewhere), only time will (eventually) tell.

Nomers

Looking at the 'genets' on my raised chimney got me thinking that If the Plantagenets were really English kings and not just kings of an England which was part of the greater Angevin Empire the 'Brooms' would have been on the throne instead, and the Tudors who followed them would have been the 'Merediths' if Owain had chosen his father's and not his grandfather's patronym on moving to England.

Breton Culture in the Bar

What a fantastic evening last friday in the bar; story tellers and singers from the locality, including a choir, entertained a packed pub in the Breton tongue, the true (together with Gallo in the Eastern part) but unofficial language of this country, with the bonus of contributions from Katell Kloarec & Lleuwen Steffan giving a bit of cultural diversity with their bi-lingual offerings, once again placing Cymraeg (Welsh) next to Brezhoneg (Breton) in fraternal empathy.

The Missing Gesture of Solidarity

I'm restarting at zero, some people are helping me begin to decorate the bar, and my first beers are on credit, BUT, CREDIT AGRICOLE (my bank) in 2010 telephoned me with a gesture of solidarity, which was an advance of a sum of money, half of which was to help me in my troubles, and the other half to be kept back for the reopening. Now there's been a change of staff resulting in nobody knowing anything about it! At the moment I've managed to get 1/3 of the sum they've agreed to give me which is 3/5 of the sum promised. Come on Credit Agricole, keep to your word.

Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant & Pub Renovation

Grand party to celebrate the rising of the phoenix from the ashes on its meeting with the dragon of Cymru/Wales on the day of the Patron Saint David/Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant, March 1 (2 & 3) for the reopening of 'Tavarn Ty Elise' after 3 years of closure, at Plouie (Plouye), Finistere, Brittany.

Pub Reopening

March 1/2/3: Fête of Welsh/Breton bar, Tavarn Ty Elise, Plouie (Plouye), reopening after 3 years of forced closure due to incendie, coinciding with Welsh national festival of Saint David/Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant. Music & dance over 3 days accompanied by mesdemoiselles Ambrée, Blonde, and Stout, there for your pleasure.

Merthyr Town AFC

Another Welsh association football team playing in the English pyramid and doing well, they're in the shadow of the four others, that's because they've drifted out of the spotlight into the nether regions. They have crucial gêms coming up against their promotion rivals, hoping to go up a division for a third successive year. I've followed them since I can remember because my gran used to live opposite, below Penydarren House in Trevethick St., we'd play where there were once bluebells in the grounds of the old Homfray mansion, and where F.A. Cup Final referee Leo Callaghan & others built their bungalows after the council knocked the house down; before we lost our childrens' football pitches where our coats served as goalposts, on a saturday afternoon we'd hear a murmur, walk through the skeletal house to see what was happening, and sneak in through a hole in the fence to see a real football match. Back in the fifties when clubs were voted into the Football League they were the best team in the land for years outside of it & the top Scottish clubs, but no matter how many times they applied they couldn't get the votes. In the end they couldn't get back to where they once were in the 1920s when they played against Aberdare in the 3rd Division South, so after years of frustration from banging their heads against a wall they slipped to their current position. After a lot of trouble & financial strife they seem to have got themselves back into the groove and are moving in the right direction, ask Owen Money. Up, up, up The Martyrs.

Dylan Thomas

Pol Huellou got in touch with me today about the launching of a project 'Dylan Thomas, his Wales & his family' that will see poetry recitals in French together with excerpts from the autobiographies of his wife, Caitlin, and daughter, Aeronwy, accompanied and/or followed by music to be staged with a strong possibility at the bar on Sun. May 12. Watch this space. He also sent me 2 c.ds, one a volume of songs sung by the late Liam Weldon in collaboration with Pol, they toured together for 15 years, Liam once brought a 17 years old Davy Spillane to the bar with him back in the pub's very beginning about 34 years ago; the second, a poem 'Si la musique doit mourir' by the Tunisian poet Tahar Bekri, in 6 different languages, it is available through the internet on: iTunes; Deezer; Amazon, etc. In the meantime, today I drank a beer at the bar for the first time since Feb. 18 2010, THREE YEARS AGO, things are looking up, I expect to see a few of you on Saturday for an informal drink and a chat, but the pub isn't completed yet, so don't you expect too much, the opening day with festivities is March 1.