Life and Traditions in Rural Wales - Softcover

Jenkins, J. Geraint

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1848680376 ISBN 13: 9781848680371

Publisher: Amberley Publishing, 2009

Synopsis

The key to the study of rural Wales is the living past, for many features of the culture and social life of Welsh country people are of great antiquity. The pattern of settlement brought into being by the medieval system of inheritance is still recognizable in the scattered farms typical of many districts today, and its impress on the customs and character of the remoter uplands persists, not least in the hospitality and kindness offered to strangers. The necessarily self-sufficient nature of dispersed hamlets and villages resulted in many variations in the type and design of farm implements, adapted to particular local needs, and especially of vehicles used for transport on the steeply sloping fields and pastures. Sleds, wheeled sleds, long carts and 'gambos', ranging from a few timbers roughly put together by the farmer to the craftsman-made output of wheelwright and blacksmith are here fully described and illustrated. Domestic crafts using local materials and rural industries such as woollen manufacture and leather working dependent on farm produce have many features distinctively Welsh; so too have the cottages and farmhouses and their furnishings, and the way of life reflected in the customs and beliefs that have not entirely vanished from the countryside.

About this title

About the Author

J. Geraint Jenkins was a prolific author and had written widely on the rural and maritime traditions of Wales. He had over thirty years experience as a member of the National Museum of Wales, at the Welsh Folk Museum and the Welsh Industrial and Maritime Museum.

Edition details

• Publisher: Amberley Publishing
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1848680376
• ISBN 13: 9781848680371
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240