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Cwestiynau Diweddar

I am interested in the history of the old church called St.Brynach Llanfrynach just outside Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan. Any information would be most welcome.
2008-11-20 09:45:15

Im doing some research into my family tree and was wondering if there is any information about the Market Hall Vaults in Caernarfon about 1901 and whether it still exists. I believe there was a lodging house at No.26 and owned by Jane Ellen James.
2008-11-19 08:39:04

In 1914 Lloyd George set about creating a Welsh Army to fight in WW1. He had great success in the cities and the valleys but in Carmarthenshire there were insufficient young men, who were surplus to the agricultural requirements of the area, to form an effective battalion. Because of this, over 300 young men were recruited in Bolton, Lancashire, and after training in Rhyl they became part of the 15th Bn The Welsh Regiment. I believe that my grandfather was one of those men. According to the medal lists held at the National Archives in Kew there was a Pte 20304 Richard Lofthouse who served with this Bn on The Western Front. Later he was transferred and became Pte 63615 with the South Lancashire Regiment. I have completed just about every search I can think of but I'm still looking for that one piece of information that would prove, one way of the other, whether the Richard who served with the 15th Welsh was one of the 300 plus volunteers who came from Bolton. I appreciate that it is easy to lose track of an individual soldier or indeed a small group of soldiers after all this time. However, a group as large as 300 must have left some evidence of their existence. I have done all the usual searches and contacted the regimental museum in Cardiff and the archives in Carmarthen but they couldn't help. I would be eternally grateful if you could help me. My email address is harry@learnrite.fsnet.co.uk Harry Lofthouse
2008-11-19 07:20:01
Manylion y Cwestiwn
Cwestiwn:
Over 50 years ago I had to do a BBC Choral Evensong broadcast, singing in Welsh, to celebrate an anniversary of the Bible being translated into Welsh by two men from my college, Bishop Morgan and, I think, a Bishop Rees.
At the back of my muddled old mind, I seem to recall a vestige of a psalm (was it 121?) which began something like "Da babell di mor huvrid yu o arglwth bu i cleoich"
Sorry about my travesty of your language but, as you can see, I can't spell it, can't speak it and my memory of the rest of it is even more hazy. It would be great if you could email me a copy of the words and I can check my pronunciation against them. And attempt to memorise them properly
As a party piece when I was a youngster, and a 100% Glasgow Scot, I could recite Llanfairpwllgwyn to its full extent (I still can do that) and to great acclaim (which I wouldn't get nowadays!). Someone ltold me that the word was made up as a kind of Welsh PR job to boost railway tourists to that little place. Can this sorry tale be true?
I look forward to hearing from you in due course
Many thanks
Iain McGlashan

Many thanks
Ateb:
Thank you for contacting Ask Cymru.

In answer to your first query, the psalm for which you are looking is Psalm 84. In order to obtain a copy of the version that you sang, please follow the link below:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=AzGR22IteswC&pg=PA83&lpg=PA83&dq=babell+%22+mor+hyfryd+%22+arglwydd&source=web&ots=snHm0T2oCX&sig=JRbI5_ofHIk3nbKtHD0MLpUmMCg&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=8&ct=result

This is an older Welsh translation of the psalm. For a more recent translation, please follow this link:
http://www.kimkat.org/amryw/1_testunau/sion_prys_003_beibl_salmau_19_1278k.htm
and scroll down to Salm 84 which begins with the second sentence: “Mor hawddgar yw dy bebyll…”

As for your second question, you are indeed correct about the longer version of the name for Llanfairpwllgwyngyll. According to the Encyclopaedia of Wales, recently published by the Welsh Academy, the longer name was invented in 1869, “probably by a local tailor eager to attract visitors”.

I hope this helps answer your questions. Thank you for contacting Ask Cymru.
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