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!
 

TAKING A PLUNGE

 

Off to Gowerton tomorrow to ride with the local CTC group to Llys Nini. 20 miles, 1000 ft climbing. 

Wish me luck!

ON THE PWLL

 Off to Pwll today, 2 wheels, 1 grum power. Took faaaaaar too long, as I was cycling into the teeth of a gale on the way there. Also, I got lost more than once, & even found myself on a part of the coastal path that had collapsed. I guess I'll know the way next time. The wind didn't seem to help much on the way back. Still, another 27 miles clocked. 

Collapsed path

Playing Bridge

Not a bad day, tho, only rained for about 10 mins

 

IL PRIMO SOCIALISTA?

 Saw a great tiktok this morning about this guy.

Apparently he thought that "the Church" had lost its way, was stinking rich, exploitative and totally at odds with the teaching of Christ. 

Three guesses how this ended for him? Yup, public torture, castration, perhaps torn limb from limb, then burnt.

The details of his tale are fascinating. 

From wiki:-

inspired by the teachings of Francis of Assisi, his beliefs were condemned as heresy by the Catholic Church. The Papacy condemned their practices of poverty, liberty, and opposition to the feudal system as heresy. 

Funny, eh? The very ideals/teaching of Christ:- poverty, rejection of property & wealth, helping the poor and suffering was classed as heresy. 

Of course, this made him & his followers a criminal, so they fled to the mountains, as any good revolutionary guerilla would, and then took a darker path:-

From wiki again:-

According to the Roman Catholic Church and most historians of the period, Dolcino and his followers, in reaction to attacks by Catholic troops, became criminals (today they would probably be called guerrilla fighters), who would not hesitate, for their own survival, to plunder and devastate villages, killing any who opposed them, and burning their houses. He justified the actions committed by his followers in this period citing words attributed to Saint Paul in the Epistle to Titus (1:15): "To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure; their very minds and consciences are corrupted", as reported by the Anonymous Synchronous (???)  Dolcino maintained: "[...] that it was legitimate for him and his followers to hang, behead, [...] people who obey to the Roman church and burn down, destroy, [...] because they were acting to redeem them and thus without sin".

So hanging & beheading roman catholics was ok... 

CASTLEHUNTING 22 - CAERWENT

Cadw website:-  Caerwent

Wiki:- Caerwent

VisitMonmothshire website

VisitWales website

TripAdvisor 4.4/5

A glimpse into a 

From Cadw:-

A glimpse into a Romanised market town

Perhaps its sleepy location in off-the-beaten-track rural border country is the reason why Caerwent, Venta Silurum to the Romans, is one of those ‘best kept’ secrets. Its thunder has certainly been stolen by nearby Caerleon (Isca), one of Britain’s most important Roman towns. Caer-went, established in about AD 75–80, served as a settlement of the Silures, a native tribe who became Romanised following the conquest of Britain. It was a busy place complete with public baths, spread out in a typical well-ordered Roman grid.

Impressive remains include walls still standing up to 17ft/5m, excavated houses, market-place and Romano-British temple.

Some photos:-

Info boards

Forum

Temple

South gate - filled in 

South wall & tower

Shops just bordering the Roman road

A suprisingly large Romano British capital city. Lots of floor plans, and a very large southern wall remain. Lots of the archeology has been removed & taken to the National Museum of Wales, but there are a few left inside the local church. Dunno if its a day out, but you could combine with Caerleon. 

CWRW'R WYTHNOS CHWE DEG DAU

 

A DAMNING AUTOPSY ON STARMERISM

Zoe Williams writes in the Grauniad: Farewell Keir Starmer, a terrible politician whom we desperately wanted to be something more

I guess I agree with this assessment of Starmerism. I'd hoped for a bold return to clear socialist values, and an attempt to reverse the damage done by 15 years of Tory rape & pillage to the heart of our nation, but instead we got a damp squib. No, perhaps a Catherine Wheel spinning in random directions with no steady plan. I now hope against hope that "The King in the North" does not follow this pattern, or it's back to Toryism or worse, Fararse....

CASTLE(?)HUNTING 21 - MARGAM STONES MUSEUM

 

Margam Stones Museum | Cadw 

There is also a Wiki of this place
From Cadw:-

Not only water from his butt, but a full on Meat & 2 veg, too

Lovely little old schoolhouse that now houses the collection

you can just make out the Ogham on the right edge

Really cross

Apparently that's a Dragon....

Stoned again

What a fab  little Museum! only open at specific rare times, but well worth a visit. The Interp panels were legion & excellent. I must revisit with Mrs. H

REVOLVING AROUND RESOLVEN

Did it. Resolven & back. 

27 miles, 2,hrs 40 1000' climbing

51 miles this week

Go me! Still far too slow, tho

Stopped for brunch @ The Ranch, Resolven. Real full on "Tonto Evans". Bizzare how there is a Welsh/Cowboy thing. A Texas ranch themed diner up a Welsh valley. 

Oh, and here's some Swans on the Neath canal:-