humanities.lit.authors.shakespeare

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I've found a blog referring to the Shakespeare story of Clydach,
here is the post...

(written only 4 days
before I discovered the same BBC page myself...)

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(quote)

these anecdotes go back to at least to the 19th century, when it was
documented in a letter by the poet Campbell to Mrs. Fletcher that it
was thought that Shakespeare visited this village.

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(quote)

Mater

Clydach's links with Shakespeare

Author: mater (add to friends)

Some time ago I mentioned Shakespeare and his possibly spurious links
with my village. I found this last night and thought I'd share it with
you.

[More:]

Powys Literary Links - William Shakespeare

'A great deal of William Shakespeare's life is shrouded in mystery. In
the parishes of Llandefalle and Bronllys, Breconshire legend has
supplied the answer to one of the questions surrounding the
playwright. Here, it is firmly believed that Shakespeare stayed at
Trebarried around 1595.

Information provided by Powys County Archives:

The original house at Trebarried was the mansion of Bois, Lord of
Trebois. All that can be seen of this are the remains of a moat in the
field to the east of the house.

The present house, which Theophilus Jones says "rose from the ruins,
and perhaps was partly composed of the materials of the old house,
though not built on the same foundation" was built in the mid
seventeenth century for William Parry or William ap Harry Vaughan, a
descendent of Roger Vaughan of Bronllys (sometimes 'of Talgarth'),
himself a natural son Sir Roger Vaughan of Tretower.

Whilst staying at Trebarried, Shakespeare is said to have visited the
picturesque Clydach Gorge, near Abergavenny. Clydach was part of
Breconshire at that time. Here, in a part of the gorge called the
Fairy Glen, he is supposed to have written 'A Midsummer Night's
Dream', which he intended for the celebrations at the wedding of a
friend. There is a cave in the gorge still called 'Shakespeare's
Cave', where he sat, so the story goes, to write his fantasy of
fairies, star-crossed lovers and 'rude mechanicals'. The cave is one
of many in the area explored by cavers.

In the sixteenth century, the gorge was wild and largely unspoilt,
though evidence has been found that it was the site of the earliest
iron workings in the world. Later, the Industrial Revolution was to
bring more extensive exploitation of the natural resources lying
hidden beneath the gorge, as can be seen from the 1880 Ordnance Survey
map.

We shall probably never really know whether Shakespeare visited
Trebarried and Clydach, or where he wrote 'A Midsummer Night's Dream',
but it does no harm for us to indulge in a little fantasy, and there
is the compelling evidence of the name of that cave...'


Comments, Pingbacks:

Comment from: jak

How exciting, Marit. Inspirational too, I should think.
25/02/08 @ 09:43

Comment from: sue kendrick =B7 http://www.suekendrick.co.uk

Marit, I always think the more vague the connections the better, it
gives you more scope to make things up!
25/02/08 @ 14:40

Comment from: jon =B7 http://jon1words.blogspot.com

I love all these myths and legends. All the better if they're close to
home and you can get a few hours to explore.
25/02/08 @ 19:02

Comment from: gillyflower

I wonder how true this is. Sometimes I suspect tourist bureaus employ
people to write up plausible stories like this to encourage more
visitors to their regions. Great if it was true though.
03/03/08 @ 10:19

Comment from: mater

It could well be anecdotal, although if it is, these anecdotes go back
to at least to the 19th century, when it was documented in a letter by
the poet Campbell to Mrs. Fletcher that it was thought that
Shakespeare visited this village. At that time Clydach was dominated
by smelly Ironworks, employing almost one and a half thousand people
and was certainly no tourist attraction.

Although we have the beauty of the gorge and rich history, some
beautiful walks and the access to the longest underground lake in
Europe, there isn't so much as a local shop, let alone a public toilet
in the area - and making up stories about the past would not generate
any income for anyone, let alone the tourist bodies. As a story, I
love it - I must admit - but I'm not claiming it to be the truth, just
the story as it has been told down the years.

I'm writing a series of articles about the myths, legends and
historical background of the village, for the local 3-village
community web page. I have done a little more research on Shakespeare
and his visit and have written an article in my own words. I might
post that one, along with the next one (when I write it) just for
members' eyes.

03/03/08 @ 18:25

http://www.writelink.co.uk/blogs/mater?title=3Dclydach_s_links_with_shakespe=
are&more=3D1&c=3D1&tb=3D1&pb=3D1