Merthyr Memories: Memories of Christmas

by Laura Bray

Christmas is always a time of nostalgia, always tinted with that golden glow! So when Steve asked me to share my memories of Christmas, it was hard to think of a place or time, there were so many to chose from.

But in the end, I focused on the early 1980s and I hope this resonates with some of you.

For me, Christmas has always been predominantly a religious festival, wrapped round with music. We knew we were getting close, when St David’s Church choir, or the Cyfarthfa School Girls Choir, both under Derry Prothero’s capable leadership, dusted off the Christmas anthems, usually in about October! Also, rehearsals with the Cyfarthfa School Mixed Choir under the leadership of Ian Hopkins, were held at around the same time.

Cyfarthfa School Mixed Choir in the 1980s with Ian Hopkins (front). Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

In the case of the Girls Choir it was things like Britten’s “This Little Babe” difficult, but effective, cannoning round the church,  or Elgar’s “Snow” and the more traditional “Adam Lay a-Bounden” as well as three-part “Ding Dong Merrily”.  All practised in school and culminating in a half day rehearsal in the church itself and an early finish!

In the church choir – which then consisted of around 30 choristers-  there were endless rehearsals for The Nine Lessons service;  of “Once in Royal” for the procession, and the traditional anthems such as  “In the Bleak Mid Winter”, “The Sussex Carol” “Joy to the World’ or Rutter’s “Angel Carol”.  Derry was great at mixing the much loved oldies, with some newer works.

St David’s Church Choir with Derry Prothero (far right). Photo courtesy of Caroline Owen

By mid December we had sang for the school carol concert before the end of term, and, for those of us who were also in the church choir,  for the Nine Lessons and Carols on the 4th Sunday in Advent. I remember the descants we sang – always challenging and always high, and always “can belto”!

For a couple of years after the Nine Lessons, as if we hadn’t sung enough,  the church  choir then headed out to the streets around the church – Twyn Hill, and Thomastown mostly  – and belted out, from memory and in full 4 part harmony, all of the stalwarts “Hark the Herald”, “O Come All Ye Faithful”, “O Little Town of Bethlehem”, “Away in a Manger” and so on, to raise money for the church organ fund. We sang in the middle of the road while a couple of us knocked on doors with our rattling tins, taking requests and asking for contributions. Few people turned us down.  We sang till we were cold and hoarse. Not even Sandbrook House, then a nursing home, escaped the carol singing!

On Christmas Eve itself I would wait to hear the Salvation Army Band, playing carols round the streets, before heading down to the Vulcan with my friends for Christmas drinks. Not too many, mind, as we were back in church for the Midnight Mass at 11.30 and more carols, including one of my absolute favourites –  “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”. The service always began by candlelight, and the church lit up gradually until it was flooded with colour, light and sparkle, and you could see who was there. Sometimes old choristers came to join us, swelling the numbers of the choir even further.

The Vulcan (pre the 1980s). Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

The Midnight was always packed and was a great place to catch up with friends and acquaintances who had moved from Merthyr but come home for Christmas. The atmosphere was magical and lively!

We always finished with “Hark the Herald” – sometimes sung with more enthusiasm than accuracy at the end of weeks of singing and a touch of alcohol!

Then home to bed. Another Christmas celebrated. And the echo of music in the night.

David Alfred Thomas and the Lusitania – part 2

Sinking of the Lusitania. Engraving by Norman Wilkinson, The Illustrated London News, May 15, 1915

Rescue

Lifeboat #11 was spotted by the trawler Wanderer of Peel and the boat took on the survivors.  After four hours of being cold and miserable, Oliver asked D. A., “Exciting day, Mr. Thomas?”

“Outrageous.  Simply outrageous.”  D. A. growled.

“They certainly made a job of it.”

“Didn’t you see what happened at the lifeboats?  Deplorable.  The standard of human efficiency is far below what we are entitled to expect — today it was ghastly.”

“Of course,” Bernard said, “it’s got to start at the top.  You can’t expect efficiency from the crew if you don’t set an example on the bridge.”

“What do you imagine the percentage of average efficiency to be?”  Thomas asked.

“Fifty per cent?”

“Nonsense, young man.  Any employer who gets an average of ten per cent efficiency all around is doing extremely well.”

The Wanderer of Peel  (foreground) with the sinking Lusitania. Photo courtesy of The Lusitania Resource

As the Wanderer was becoming overcrowded, the skipper, Ball, had to have many of the rescued transferred.  Bernard and Thomas were taken aboard the trawler Flying Fish.

At Queenstown, he was looked after by a Catholic priest who treated D. A. to dinner and brandy, despite D. A.’s protests.  By the time he returned to the Queenstown quay to await news of his daughter, he was a bit tipsy.

Margaret was aboard the Bluebell, the same boat that saved Captain Turner. Upon their reunion, the father and daughter checked into the Queen’s Hotel to put an end to their ordeal.  Dorothy visited Lady Mackworth the next morning to check up on her and to say that Howard was safe.  Lady Mackworth and D. A. Thomas went home to Wales; Dorothy and Howard continued on to work on the battlefields of France.

Despite his survival, the Lusitania left a lasting impression.  D.A. Thomas would later remark, “The thought of crossing the Atlantic frightens me.  I can’t get the Lusitania out of my mind.  I dream of it.”*

Media coverage

The New York Times of 8 May 1915.

The 8 May 1915 New York Times, page 4 ran this:   “Mr. Thomas declined to relate his experience, saying that he had too easy a time to be interesting.  Just as a boat was being lowered on the starboard side an officer ordered him to take a vacant seat.  This boat got away without any trouble and was one of the first to be picked up.”

One of the more interesting headlines detailing D. A.’s survival read:  “GREAT NATIONAL DISASTER.  D. A. THOMAS SAVED.”

After Lusitania

D.A. Thomas was awarded the title of Baron Rhondda in 1916.  From 1916 to 1917, he was President of the Local Government Board.  When he was appointed Minister of Food in June of 1917, he introduced food rationing to Great Britain.  Another title, Viscount, came to D. A. in June of 1918.  He was only able to enjoy his title for one month, as he died on 3 July 1918 in Llanwern, Monmouthshire.  His title and peerage, by special remainder, were inherited by her daughter Margaret.  Margaret wrote about him in her 1933 autobiography, This Was My World.

This article is reproduced with the kind permission of the webmasters of https://www.rmslusitania.info/. If you have an interest in the Lusitania – I would recommend visiting this remarkable and fantastically researched site.

David Alfred Thomas and the Lusitania – part 1

David Alfred Thomas (1856–1918), 59, (right) was a British Member of Parliament travelling aboard Lusitania with his daughter Margaret Mackworth and his secretary Arnold Rhys-Evans.  On board, they also became friends with Dr. Howard Fisher and his sister-in-law, Dorothy Conner, who were travelling to France to work in the field hospitals.  Father and daughter were separated during the sinking, but both survived, as did Fisher and Conner.

Family and background

David Alfred Thomas was born in Ysgyborwen, Glamorgan, Wales on 26 March 1856 as the son of Welsh coal magnate Samuel Thomas of Aberdare.  He was educated at Caius College, Cambridge, and returned to Wales to become the senior partner in the Cardiff-based Thomas and Davey.  This company owned several collieries in the Rhondda Valley.  Despite being born into wealth and privilege, D. A.’s needs were simple.  A Labour politician had even commented, “There goes Thomas — with the income of a duke and the tastes of a peasant.”

Subsequently, D. A. Thomas married Sybil Haig on 27 June 1882.  Their only child, Margaret Haig Thomas, later Lady Humphrey Mackworth and even later Viscountess Rhondda, was born in 1883.  D. A. educated his daughter in matters of business and she became a champion for women’s equality everywhere.  As D. A. would say of her daughter, “Margaret and I are not like father and daughter.  We’re buddies.”

Involvement in politics

D.A. Thomas was elected Member of Parliament (MP) as a Liberal for Merthyr Tydfil in 1888.  He subsequently became MP of Cardiff as well, and he held these positions until the 1910 General Election.  Although Thomas was reputedly an agnostic, he was a supporter of Nonconformity in his constituency.  He even laid the foundation stone of Soar Welsh Calvinistic Church, Cwmaman, and many others.

When the First World War broke, David Lloyd George sent D. A. Thomas to arrange the supply of munitions for the British armed forces.  In April of 1915, D. A. Thomas and his daughter Margaret, who was now her personal assistant and proxy, went to take a look at Thomas’ interests in the Pennsylvania coal mines.  He also was launching a new barge service on the Mississippi and planning extensions of Canada’s railroad system.  His secretary, Arnold Rhys-Evans, also came along.

Lusitania

To end their trip abroad, they had booked passage on the Lusitania.  His saloon cabin was the parlour suite B-86, B-88.  Aboard the Lusitania, D. A. Thomas and his daughter had befriended Dr. Howard Fisher and Nurse Dorothy Conner, Fisher’s sister-in-law.  Dorothy had often commented on the lack of excitement on the voyage and was often teased by D. A.  Margaret had also found the voyage rather dull, but as her father was having fun she decided to keep her mouth shut.

A plan of ‘B’ Deck on the Lusitania. D A Thomas’ suite is marked with red dot. Plan courtesy of The Lusitania Resource
A typical 1st Class bedroom on the Lusitania. Photo courtesy of The Lusitania Resource

On the afternoon of 7 May, D. A., Margaret, Arnold, Dorothy, and Howard all sat down to lunch with the foghorn blaring.  Margaret remarked, “Home tomorrow!  Aren’t you pleased, father?”

“I would be more pleased, my dear,” D. A. remarked, “if I believed that wretched siren hasn’t given our whereabouts away.”

Margaret Mackworth in 1915

Margaret and D. A. left the saloon and left Howard and Dorothy to finish lunch by themselves.  The father and daughter stood waiting for the elevator with Frederick Tootal and Albert Byington.  D. A. then joked with his daughter, saying, “You know, Margaret, I think we might stay up on deck tonight.  Just to see if you get your thrill.”

Before Margaret could respond, they felt the torpedo rock the ship with “a dull thudding sound.”  They were already partially inside the elevator, but instinctively, they stepped back, a move that would save their lives.  D. A. ran over to a porthole to see what had happened; Margaret went upstairs to grab lifebelts, and they were separated.

Sometime later, D. A. tried to get back to his cabin, but he found the stairs to be too crowded.  A steward gave him an inflatable lifebelt, but it wouldn’t work.  He was finally able to get to his cabin and retrieve one from the wardrobe.  On deck, he saw the ship overwhelmed by “absolute confusion” and “an entire absence of discipline” among the crew.

Back outside, he saw that the water was almost level with the deck and a woman with a small child hesitating to get into a lifeboat.  D. A. shoved them both into the boat, #11, before he jumped in himself.  Oliver Bernard, also in the boat, was amused by the “rather worried and puzzled expression” on the Welshman’s face.  His secretary, Arnold Rhys-Evans, was also in #11, but had gotten in before D. A. did.  Being one of the last boats to leave, #11 was still close enough to the Lusitania when she foundered that they were in danger of being crushed by the funnels.

To be continued…..

This article is reproduced with the kind permission of the webmasters of https://www.rmslusitania.info/. If you have an interest in the Lusitania – I would recommend visiting this remarkable and fantastically researched site.

Memories of Old Merthyr

We continue our serialisation of the memories of Merthyr in the 1830’s by an un-named correspondent to the Merthyr Express, courtesy of Michael Donovan.

Still further on yet, and on the left, were other cottages and a public house called ‘The Ship in Distress’. These cottages and ‘The Ship in Distress’ have long since ceased to be tenantable, but about which I will tell something.

Mr David Morris, the grandfather of the late Mr Thomas Jenkins of Pant, kept the public house, and owing to his not voting in accordance with the wish of his landlord at an election, had notice to quit. Mr Morris then built the ‘Mountain Hare’ and removed there. So much for political pique, but another hardship soon after arose. Upon the cottages etc. becoming untenantable, the owner (who had become so by the marriage of a widow) was John Jenkins, keeping the ‘Cross Keys’ near the lock-up. He applied unsuccessfully, both to the Dowlais and Penydarren Companies, for compensation.  All he got was the part of shuttlecock, the battledores being the companies. In vain did he endeavour to invoke the aid of any solicitor to take up his case until a person (long dead), who shall be nameless, rendered assistance to him. Amongst the excuses urged by the companies was a direct negative that either had worked beneath the property, so that it became necessary to sink a pit upon that small plot and show the minerals had been abstracted. Upon so doing he was able to obtain compensation.

This, or about there for certain, was called Pwllywhead (sic) (Duck’s Pool). Beyond this there were a few cottages, which the inexorable demand for tip room has obliterated. The residence of the old mineral agent of the Dowlais Works, Mr William Kirkhouse, was on the way, and the road ran out to join that from Merthyr to Rhymney Bridge via Dowlais, above or about Cae Harris.

All this is vividly recalled by the sudden death of the late Chairman of the Board of Guardians. Mrs Jenkins, mother of the deceased gentleman, was the eldest daughter of David Morris of ‘The Ship in Distress’. There was also a son who was in the fitting shop at the Dowlais Works, and a younger sister, who married and went to reside somewhere. Do not for a moment conclude that in the turnpike gate times this road was always quite open and free to travel. Ever and anon – particularly on Wain (sic) Fair days – there was a chain stretched across and a collector stationed who required payment before removal of the obstruction.

No doubt many of your readers have heard of a horse and rider going over the bridge and into the gorge at Pontsarn. Let me assure them that it arose from the anxiety to save the payment of toll, and in due time it shall be made clear, for I had the words of the person some few years ago.

To be continued at a later date…..

Merthyr’s Coat of Arms and St Tydfil

by Carolyn Jacob

Upon becoming a Borough in 1905, the Corporation commissioned one of the top Welsh artists of the day, Sir Goscombe John, R. A. to design a suitable Coat of Arms. (Goscombe John was fond of using traditional mythical  heroic images and in 1906 he also designed the Fountain to the Pioneers  of the South Wales Steam Coal Trade to celebrate the efforts of Robert and Lucy Thomas in the steam coal trade).

It was decided that the central figure of the coat of arms should be St Tydfil, as the whole parish is named after her and the original pre – industrial small town grew up around the church dedicated to her. The name Merthyr Tydfil means THE BURIAL PLACE OF TYDFIL.

St Tydfil as depicted in a stained glass window at Llandaff Cathedral

Legend has it that Tydfil was the daughter of a 5th Century Chieftain, Brychan, King of Breconshire. While visiting their sister Tanglwst in Aberfan, Tydfil and her family were massacred by a band of marauding Picts, who came over to Wales from Ireland. It is generally believed that she died on the site of the Parish Church, which bears her name, having defied the pagans and refused to give up Christianity. Tydfil had many brothers and sisters who became saints, including Saint Cynon.  One of her brothers, Cadoc, became the Patron Saint of Brittany. Miracles happened around her grave and the shrine of St. Tydfil the Martyr soon became a place of Christian pilgrimage.

In the Middle Ages a village grew up around the church. There was once a wooden statue in the church representing Tydfil which was probably carried out in a procession on her Saints Day on the 23rd of August. The Royal Charter was in fact formally granted only 6 days before the official Saints Day of Tydfil. This changed with the Protestant Reformation and the statue was possibly destroyed in the seventeenth century when Cromwell’s troops were drinking in the inn near the church.

It is significant that, although Merthyr Tydfil became a major centre of nonconformity and had no Roman Catholics until the Irish came in 1815, the town never abandoned the Celtic Saint, Tydfil although very little is known about her. There are in fact very few British towns named after a female Saint and the association with Tydfil is very special.

The later Merthyr Tydfil First World War Memorial has in its centre the same mythological figure of St Tydfil together with the images of a working miner and a mother and child. All these figures are emblematic of  sacrifice, St Tydfil was sacrificed for her religious beliefs, too often coal miners are sacrificed to the coal mining industry and mothers’ always make sacrifices  for their children.

The Borough Coat of Arms (right) bears a likeness of St. Tydfil as the central  motif. The heraldic description of the Borough Arms (formally granted on the 17th August 1906), is as follows:-

‘Azure a figure representing Saint Tydvil the Martyr, in Chief Two Crosses patee fitchee all Or’.

Tydfil is represented as a hard working saint because in her hands she has a distaff, which is used for spinning.  The placing of the distaff as an important symbol  in the coat of arms  is chosen to signify industry and to represent the proud industrial history of the new Borough of Merthyr Tydfil. The daggers on either side of her head are meant to indicate the martyrdom and to remind us of how Tydfil met her death and that her life was a sacrifice to God.

The motto on the coat of arms- ‘Nid Cadarn ond Brodyrdde’ is taken from an Old Welsh manuscript, ‘The Sayings of the Wise’ and means ‘Not force but Fellowship’.  There is nothing so strong as the bonds of brotherhood. This reflects the strength of Trade Union feeling and the strong political traditions here.

The Borough’s Seal incorporates the Coat of Arms and has three circles, each with individual illustrations, Morlais Castle (the ancient links with Norman Lords), Trevithick’s engine (the innovations and inventions pioneered here) and a blast furnace (the industrial nature of Merthyr Tydfil).

The Borough Seal. © Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales

A Bit of Culture?

If you enjoyed reading the previous article, or if you enjoy music, why not join the Merthyr Tydfil Opera Lovers Group?

We are a friendly group who meet once a month and listen to, watch and chat about opera…….nothing too deep or heavy. We also, on occasion, get tickets to see dress-rehearsals at the Welsh National Opera.

We can even offer you a free cuppa and a biscuit!!!!

We meet on the last Tuesday of every month at 2.00pm at High Street Chapel Schoolroom, and it’s £2.00 per meeting (to cover costs) or £20 for annual membership.

So if you like a bit of music, please feel free to come along and join us.

Visit of a Living Legend

Merthyr was always famous for its musical tradition, not only for the many talented musicians produced by the town, but for the internationally famous musicians that performed here.

Without doubt, the most celebrated musician to ever perform in Merthyr was the legendary Norwegian soprano Kirsten Flagstad, who gave a concert at the Theatre Royal 70 years ago today – 25 November 1951.

By 1951, Flagstad had already achieved ‘legend’ status in the operatic world, and was acclaimed as the greatest Wagnerian soprano of her day. Nowadays however, she is regarded by many as the greatest soprano of the 20th Century. What an accolade for an industrial town in the Valleys to secure her services for the only appearance she had made in Britain outside London at the time.

Merthyr Express – 24 November 1951

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below is a review of the concert by the music critic of the Merthyr Express.

Merthyr Express – 1 December 1951