Could the “Lost” Islands of Ancient Welsh Folklore Really Have Existed? Scientists Say Yes

Thanks!

You're welcome. Ysbyty is a hospital. My great great grandfather made shoes for the miners at the Ysbyty Ystywyth lead mine. Locating his house/shop along the road between their homes and work was a strategic choice. The shoes had a wood sole and a sheep skin leather upper. The acid in the mines damaged the footwear, so it needed replacing often. The rest of the family raised the sheep that provided wool, meat and leather for the shoe production.

Lead was formed into strips that were used to hang slate used for roofing the homes. Slate was mined north of lead/silver mines. The south has coal mines.

My great great grandfather made shoes for the miners at the Ysbyty Ystywyth lead mine. Locating his house/shop along the road between their homes and work was a strategic choice. The shoes had a wood sole and a sheep skin leather upper. The acid in the mines damaged the footwear, so it needed replacing often. The rest of the family raised the sheep that provided wool, meat and leather for the shoe production.

Cool story- thanks for sharing.

Not the sole provider by a long shot. Boys between 5 and 11 worked in the lead mine until they were too big to get in and out. At that point, tending sheep was the primary task. When not making shoes, he was also the village butcher. Cutting fleece for the wool mills was done after the weather warmed.

My great great grandmother urged my great grandfather to avoid "the evil shoe business". After a brief time tending sheep, he left for Liverpool. At age 18, he signed on as ship's company to earn his passage to the United States. He found his sweetheart from Aberystwyth living in Pittsburgh. To impress his future father-in-law, he signed up for the Union Army and was promptly in "boot camp" on a rail car enroute to the battle lines with the Confederates. He ended up captured and survived two years in a Confederate POW camp. In 1865, he returned to Pittsburgh and married my great grandmother. My grandfather and his twin brother were the youngest of the 19 children. They were born in 1887.

There is my connection to Wales. I've had to learn the language on my own as my great grandfather insisted that his children spoke English to ensure success in America.

Wales was also known for good church choirs

The miners often sang music in parts on the way into the mines. When the LDS missionaries came to Wales, the entire village of Merthyr Tydfil joined the church. Most emigrated to the US. They missed the choirs that they had in Wales and formed a fairly well known group, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The choir leader has been of Welsh ancestry for a very long time.

I've been active with Welsh groups in Southern CA. Periodically, a Gymanfa Ganu is scheduled...often at a Presbyterian church. The community gathers and we sing in Welsh and in parts. Guest soloists are invited from Wales for those events. In August, there is an Eisteddfod held in Wales where music and poetry competitions/performances occur. The best poet (bard) wins a carved wooden chair.

I had need to fill a half a semester in my senior year of high school. Choir was my choice. Cute young ladies and fun music to perform. We competed in acapella format singing in Italian and a modern presentation of the musical Hair.

I didn't get my hands on a Welsh language hymnal until 1993. It took some time to learn the language sufficiently to sing in a choir format. I generally prefer the Welsh folk music genre. Plethyn and Linda Healy have been prolific in recording folk music. It turns out that my friends Meredydd Evans and his wife Phyllis Kinney spent lots of time digging the old music out of the library in Aberystwyth. Linda and her brothers (Plethyn) brought the research to life.

Here is a live concert with Plethyn performing Can Melangell

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