quotations


'... it seems everyone who touches the Lady Llanofer myth begets a serious dose of adoration. Although somewhat of a late comer, I believe I have now tasted the Bee's honey and found it addictive.' Ken Thorne, Cymro oddi Cartref, February 2005.
'The traditional picture of Lady Llanover as an absolute autocrat, over-riding everyone, is so unattractive that if it were true it would be surprising that she had any friends at all, but like so many traditional beliefs it will not stand up to investigation. Her memory suffers from the fact that one of the best known descriptions of her in print is the highly biased account by Herbert M.Vaughan in The South Wales Squires. On his own showing he had never met her, but he chose to ridicule her and to denigrate her activities on behalf of the Welsh language and literature, and to ignore her many sterling qualities and her outstanding part in the literary revival of the mid-nineteenth century.' Maxwell Fraser, 'Lady Llanover and Her Circle', The Transactions of the Honourable Society of the Cymmrodorion, Session 1968. Part II.
'Mothers of Wales, speak Welsh to your children ... It is from you, and not from their fathers, that they will leam to love God in their own language.' Lady Llanofer, in 'Y Gymraes', vol. I, I850. Wales in Quotations. Meic Stephens.
'... a bulldozer of a woman, years ahead of her time, who fearlessly and fiercely promoted the Welsh language at the time of the Welsh Not . A brilliant exception to the Anglicised outlook of her class'. Eiry Hunter. Welsh Folk Dance Society.
'Lady Llanover while talking to an aged retainer, discovered her quite distressed by the fact that the Welsh National Dress was dying out. She immediately resolved that it would never be altered while she was head of the Llanofer Estate. She decreed that all in her employment must wear Welsh dress.' From an article entitled 'Gems from the Past'. Welsh Folk Dance Society.
'YFWCH BAWB A CHROESAW AC NAC ANGHOFIWCH WENYNEN GWENT' (Drink, all, and welcome, and do not forget Gwenynen Gwent) Inscription on a drinking trough at the side of the road leading from Llanellen to Llanofer.
'September 20th: In the evening after supper, Lady Llanover kindly allowed Mr Griffiths, her harper, to play in the hall. When I went into the room, standing near Mr. Griffiths, who was playing the harp, was a young girl in a close cap and scarlet handkerchief singing Welsh airs and, oh, how sweet and natural she sang'. Margaret Davies, from her diary. Edited by David Thomas. 'Country Quest' July 1967.
'... about tea time Lady Llanover sent for me ... She spoke to me very kind, but still with a strong determination not to deviate from any of her accustomed rules ... Her dress was rather peculiar on the whole. She had on a stuff skirt tucked up all around, a black velvet jacket, a puce bow attached to her collar, no cap as I had anticipated, black silk stockings and little shoes with ribbon bows'. Margaret Davies, from her diary. Edited by David Thomas. 'Country Quest July' 1967.
'What a good thing it is for us to be in a house where we are as welcome in sickness as in health, and where the hostess [Lady Llanofer] says she is glad of an illness which keeps us here. Few, however kind, can honestly say that.' Betha Johnes in 1880. From 'Lady Llanover and Her Circle' by Maxwell Fraser. The Transactions of the Honourable Society of the Cymmrodorion, Session 1968. Part II.
'Mrs. Hall rises daily in my estimation. There is in her a sincerity, and warmth of heart that is quite cynesol, and I shall leave my new friends with regret.' Angharad Llwyd in 1837. From 'Lady Llanover and Her Circle' by Maxwell Fraser. The Transactions of the Honourable Society of the Cymmrodorion, Session 1968. Part II.
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