Ancient bards, Welsh gipsies, and Celtic folklore in the cauldron of regeneration

Western Folklore, Fall 1998 by Blyn-Ladrew, Roslyn

<< Page 1 Continued from page 6. Previous | Next

John Roberts (1816-94) was baptised at Llanrhaeadr-yng-Nghinmeirch, near Denbigh. His early life appears to have been spent in traditional Gipsy style, on the road, sleeping in tents and barns. He was trilingual, knowing Welsh, English and Romani, and, unlike most of the Wood family at the time, he was literate, presumably learning from his Welsh father. He also learned to read music and, according to Robert Griffith, became "very skilled at arranging old Welsh airs for different instruments" (quoted in E.E. Roberts 1981:42). From age 14 to about 23 (1829-38), he served in the Army, where he had already developed his musical talents, and he said he had played for Princess Victoria on the triple harp in 1834 and 1835 when she visited the Royal Welch Fusiliers.

Most Popular Articles in Arts: Art since 1900: Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism; Free-standing cardboard sculpture; What makes a successful business person? Business people who are tops in ...; Take advantage of local advertising: TV, newspaper or magazines? If your ...; Tino Sehgal at the ICA; More »

Marriages to cousins were common in Gipsy society and John Roberts married his second cousin, Ellinor, in 1839, listing his occupation as "harpist." He had actually deserted from the army and was chased and imprisoned before he was able to purchase his discharge. In 1842 Roberts won the Tredegar Prize Harp at the Abergavenny Eisteddfod, just one example of the great acclaim he achieved during his musical career.

He and Ellinor settled in Newtown and had thirteen children, including nine sons who played music with their father, and three daughters, of whom at least one, the oldest, Mary Ann, was also musical and performed with her father from age 10 onwards as harpist and singer, dressed in Welsh costume. Unfortunately she died young, at about 30. The other children were Lloyd Wynn (b. 1844), Abraham (b. ca. 1848, d. 1850), Madoc (b. 1850), Sarah (b. 1852), John (b. 1853), twins James and Reuben (b. 1855), Albert (b. 1858), Ann (b. 1860), twins Ernest and Charles (b. 1862), and William (b. 1865). Since their mother was also half Gipsy, the children maintained half-Gipsy status.

Mary Ann's use of costume in performance further illustrates the degree to which this family came to embody the new supposedly authentic Welsh traditions. Although none of the publicity material reproduced by E.E. Roberts or the jarmans shows men wearing anything other than standard nineteenth-century formal attire, Mary Ann sometimes wore the "orthodox Welsh costume" as noted in a review of her performance at the Llangollen Eisteddfod (The Cambrian journal 1858:273, quoted in Jarman and Jarman 1991:117). As students of Welsh folk costume know, this "orthodox Welsh costume" had been recently concocted by an aristocrat, Mrs. Augusta Hall, later Lady Llanover, based on seventeenth and eighteenth century pan-British fashions.' At the 1853 Abergavenny Eisteddfod, she offered prizes for "real National checks and stripes" but apparently no such thing actually existed and there was no winner (Payne 1964:50). Nevertheless, Lady Llanover's own portrait was painted in Welsh costume in 1862, and the image of red and black flannel, checks, stripes, and tall black hat has remained as an icon of Welsh culture to the present day. It is interesting that although no prize was awarded in 1853 for the costume, Mary Ann Roberts, half Gipsy, was sporting it just a few years later.

Featured Download

Speak Like a CEO

Ancient bards, Welsh gipsies, and Celtic folklore in the cauldron of regeneration

Western Folklore, Fall 1998 by Blyn-Ladrew, Roslyn

Find Research Guides for:

Find Featured Titles for: Reference

Most Popular Articles in Arts

Most Popular Publications in Arts