THE HORROR

From The Grauniad:-

Nearly 4m records of enslaved people in 20 former British colonies now searchable online

 

This article blew my mind. I don't think I ever truly realised the magnitude & horror of the slave trade until I dove into this resource. 

I had a quick look by searching on the surname Howell, as that can be the enslaver, or the enslaved. Often, the enslaved were given their enslaver's surname. Often the progeny of raped slaves were also given the surname of the enslaver. I think this accounted for the entry showing "Creole". How else would a black American have a Welsh surname? 

A quick search showed over 10 entries for slaves, surprisingly all in Jamaica, with the surname Howell.

The detail was startling. By chosing one first name randomly, I found this:-

Which led to this - 

That's just the first 20 out of 715. Digging on, and thence on to this ;-

Look at the numbers & ages of those involved. Shocking. 4 million slaves. That is just British colonies. 

A RUM DO

Bizzare news re:- Sir Ranulph Fiennes from Nation Cymru website & BBC News 

https://nation.cymru/news/king-blocked-from-contacting-explorer-after-concerns-raised-at-welsh-care-home/

BBC News - Sir Ranulph Fiennes' relatives tell BBC it's 'very painful' not being able to visit him

What on earth is going on? It seems quite a Rum do.

I think Snakey Jakey was his factotum back in the day? Berto?

UP THE UPS!

A la recherche du temps perdu, I went to Upper Killay to watch Swansea Uplands on Saturday. They had a home match against Tenby United in the 3rd match of the "Admiral National League 1 West" (quite a mouthful) , and my, how times change!

Firstly, they wanted money for me to come in! They used to have to pay people to watch! And £5, too! Still, they gave me a nice shiny programme with lots of adverts in to look at.

Not sure about the player & staff portraits, though, it's all a bit gay. Players sponsored individually, too! We were lucky if some old cove put a fiver behind the bar to buy a jug after the bloodletting.

The next suprise was that the team had nice kit! Matching, new, with the correct numbers, & names goddammit! Not a hole in sight, correct shorts & socks too!

It was nice to see them flourishing, though, and the match turned out to be a bragging rights decider to see who could remain unbeaten this year so far, & to top the league.

The Ups are also very fortunate to have been left a hefty sum on money by an old player, Freddie Abraham - enough to raise & level the pitch, install floodlights, and build a magnificent 2 story clubhouse, replete with viewing balcony, bar, lounge, various rooms where the dark arts are carried out, and to resurface the moonscape that was the carpark. Chapeau to him. I think it's no coincidence that the club has attracted enough talent to help them rise from division 3 to 1 over the last few years, and has them poised to be promoted to the next level of Welsh Rugby hopefully this season.

To be fair, chwarae teg, the rugby was excellent. The boys ran out several fine tries, a mixture of forward power & fast running back play, and held a commanding lead at half time. The discipline in defence was notable, with some fine individual performances from #4, and the 10. The game ended with The Ups  winning by 64 - 26 quite deservedly. What a great day.

Half time huddle/love-in

Lineouts ain't what they used to be

A well deserved "W" 

Hat-tip to lifelong supporter, Stu Osborne, for suggesting the visit. I'm sure that without people like him the club wouldn't be half as successful.

CWRW'R WYTHNOS TRIGAIN PEDWAR

 

BEICIO DYDD GWENER

 

You can just about see Swansea/Mumbles/Gower on the horizon 

CASTLEHUNTING 24 - LLANBLETHIAN

Cadw website llanblethian 

Wiki :- St_Quintins_Castle

From Cadw:-

Ruined remains of a 14th-century castle

Also known as St Quentin's or St. Quintin's Castle, probably built by English nobleman and military commander Gilbert de Clare in the early 14th century, the most notable remnants of this castle are its huge, twin-towered gatehouse and high stretch of curtain wall on the north of the site. In the centre of what was once a large fortress is an earthen mound with the remains of a thick-walled building on top of it, which may be all that’s left of an earlier keep.

Set on a hill overlooking Cowbridge, this must have been imposing in it's time. Now it's just an awesome gatehouse, but very little else left. Only one shabby interp panel doesn't do the site justice. 

BEICIO HEDDIW

 Ignore the duration - some fool forgot to pause for the stops.... Happy with 29 miles tho. Looking forward to Friday's Coffee ride, yet to be announced 

CASTLEHUNTING 23 - DRYSLWYN

 

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Cadw site Castell Dryslwyn 

Wiki:- Dryslwyn_Castle

(no english vowels here!) 

From Cadw:-

Fragmentary – yet evocative – remains of a castle laid low by conflict

Founded in the 13th century on an isolated hill in the verdant Tywi Valley, Dryslwyn was once an important seat of the ancient south Wales kingdom of Deheubarth.

Not much is known about its early history, but in 1287 it was the scene of a significant conflict between Welsh and English forces. In response to an uprising by Welsh lord Rhys ap Maredudd, 11,000 English troops were dispatched to lay siege to the castle. The conflict lasted two weeks as siege engines and sappers (soldiers with engineering skills, including tunnelling) chipped away at the fortress’s defences. The attackers eventually brought down a large section of the walls and the castle fell into the hands of the English crown.

Quite an interesting little site. Unfortunately not much remains of the defences, but the position is stunning. Great interpretation boards show the history really well, even explaining the cut terraces of the town that grew outside the main walls. What an incredible place to have a town. 

ONE SHEEP ON FIFTEEN ON TWENTY

 

Or 36 sheep to you....

Welsh counting is mental

From Wiki:-

The traditional counting system used in the Welsh language is vigesimal, i.e. based on twenties where numbers from 11 to 14 are "1–4 on ten", 16–19 are "1–4 on fifteen" (though 18 is more commonly "two nines"); numbers from 21 to 39 are "1–19 on twenty", 40 is "two twenty", 60 is "three twenty", etc.

There is also a decimal counting system, where numbers are "x ten y" unit(s), e.g. thirty-five (35) in decimal is tri deg pump (three ten five) while in vigesimal it is pymtheg ar hugain (fifteen – itself "five-ten" – on twenty).

So:-

Number	Vigesimal system	Decimal system
0	sero/dim
1	un
2	dau (m), dwy (f)
3	tri (m), tair (f)
4	pedwar (m), pedair (f)
5	pum(p)
6	chwe(ch)
7	saith
8	wyth
9	naw
10	deg/un deg, deng
11	un ar ddeg ("one on ten")	un deg un
12	deuddeg, deuddeng	un deg dau/dwy
13	tri/tair ar ddeg	un deg tri/tair
14	pedwar/pedair ar ddeg	un deg pedwar/pedair
15	pymtheg, pymtheng	un deg pump
16	un ar bymtheg ("one on fifteen")	un deg chwech
17	dau/dwy ar bymtheg	un deg saith
18	deunaw/tri/tair ar bymtheg ("two nines"/"three on fifteen")	un deg wyth
19	pedwar/pedair ar bymtheg	un deg naw
20	ugain	dau ddeg
21	un ar hugain ("one on twenty")	dau ddeg un
22	dau/dwy ar hugain	dau ddeg dau/dwy
23	tri/tair ar hugain	dau ddeg tri/tair
24	pedwar/pedair ar hugain	dau ddeg pedwar/pedair
25	pump ar hugain	dau ddeg pump
etc.
30	deg ar hugain ("ten on twenty")	tri deg
31	un ar ddeg ar hugain	tri deg un
32	deuddeg ar hugain	tri deg dau/dwy
40	deugain ("two twenty")	pedwar deg
41	deugain ac un ("two twenty and one")	pedwar deg un
50	hannercant/deg a deugain ("half a hundred"/"ten and forty")	pum deg
51	un ar ddeg a deugain	pum deg un hanner cant ac un
60	trigain ("three twenty")	chwe deg
61	trigain ac un	chwe deg un
70	deg a thrigain ("ten and three twenty")	saith deg
71	un ar ddeg a thrigain ("one on ten and three twenty")	saith deg un
80	pedwar ugain ("four twenty")	wyth deg
81	pedwar ugain ac un	wyth deg un
90	deg a phedwar ugain ("ten and four twenty")	naw deg
91	un ar ddeg a phedwar ugain ("one on ten and four twenty")	naw deg un
100	can(t)
200	dau gant
300	tri chant
400	pedwar cant
500	pum cant
600	chwe chant
700	saith cant

Then just to make it a little harder....

There are, for example, masculine and feminine forms of the numbers "two" (dau and dwy), "three" (tri and tair) and "four" (pedwar and pedair), which must agree with the grammatical gender of the objects being counted. The numerals for "five", "six" and "hundred" (pump, chwech and cant) also have reduced forms (pum, chwe, can) when they precede the object they are counting. The words for "ten", "twelve", and "fifteen" (deg, un deg dau/deuddeg, un deg pump/pymtheg) have the alternative forms deng, deuddeng, pymtheng used before nasals (which may be the result of mutation) and, occasionally, vowels;

back in 2009 I explained how to count like a basque miller

Seems they liked 20's too

CWRW'R WYTHNOS CHWEDEG TRI

 

SWANSEA TILL I DIE ;-))

Of course, I have been a lifelong fan.....

 

JUST A LITTLE ONE, THEN

Job done!