Patrick and Katharine's Wedding

About Pembrokeshire

Pembrokeshire is characterised by sea, sand, stone and folklore. Located at the far-most south-western corner of Wales, the region has for centuries been renowned for its mythical history, ancient castles and rugged coastal beauty.

Below is a short summary of information about the region:

Historical Overview Folklore & Legend Dialect Crafts Economy

Historical Overview

The unique culture of Pembrokeshire has been shaped down the centuries by ancient religion, and waves of invaders and settlers.

The first known settlements in Pembrokeshire date back about 10,000 years, as evidenced by a variety of Stone and Bronze age fortifications, agricultural and religious archaeological sites. Perhaps most interesting from this era is the emergence of religions with their accompanying standing stones and burial chambers (Cromlechs). These megalithic monuments were often constructed of stone mined from the Preseli Mountains (in North Pembrokeshire). Indeed, this so-called 'Blue Stone' is in fact the material that was used to create Stonehenge in the Bronze Age. Druidism also emerged during this time.

At the onset of the Iron Age, these early Britons were invaded by the Celts in 500BC. The Celts brought with them their Welsh language, religion and customs, much of which survives today. It is interesting to note that the Romans never succeeded in conquering this part of the UK.

By the time of the Norman Conquest in the 11th Century, the whole peninsula was Welsh speaking and was ruled by Celtic chieftains at whose courts wandering bards would recount the folk legends which were later collected as ‘The Mabinogion’. The Mabinogian is now considered as one of the most important pieces of Celtic literature in the world today and provides an excellent introduction to the folklore and Celtic religion of the region.

Eventually, the Celts were converted to Christianity - though it is claimed that pagan rituals including Druidism and Wiccan are still practiced in some areas. Pembrokeshire played a key role in the ‘Age of the Saints’ and a number of prominent Celtic Christian figures were drawn to the county, notably St David whose shrine became an important place of pilgrimage and eventually the site of a cathedral.

The Norman Conquest also brought Flemish settlers to the south of the Pembrokeshire peninsula giving South Pembrokeshire a highly distinctive dialect and profusion of dialect words - many of which are still in use.

This linguistic and cultural melange still remains and gives Pembrokeshire its unique character.
Relatively remote from the outside world, rural Pembrokeshire developed a rich folk culture in which superstitions proliferated and a belief in witchcraft was, and still is, commonplace.

Even after the Nonconformist revival when ‘the chapel’ became the spiritual and cultural focus of many communities, traces of pagan folk customs can still be seen in poetry and other cultural and artistic traditions.

By this time Pembrokeshire had been ‘discovered’ by writers and artists. Many notable figures visited the fashionable resort of Tenby, admired the romantic ruins, and spectacular coastal scenery, and recorded what they saw in prose or paint.

This is a trend which has continued, with numerous artists following the example of Graham Sutherland and John Piper by moving to Pembrokeshire to live and work.

The county itself has produced painters of the calibre of Arthur Giardelli, Gwen and Augustus John, many fine Welsh language poets, the novelists Dick Francis and Richard Llewellyn and a number of well-known actors. However, perhaps Pembrokeshire’s greatest cultural contribution has been in the field of historical research and writing, which, given the county’s rich and turbulent past, is not surprising.

A more in-depth history can be found at Pembrokeshire-Online.org

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Folklore & Legend

In the days when Pembrokeshire was ruled by Celtic chieftains, bards would travel from court to court composing poems and songs to celebrate the achievements of the local warlords.

These bards also told stories in prose, magical tales woven out of folk memories and mythology and set in the local landscape.

The most popular of these tales were written down in the 15th century and were later given the name ‘mabinogion’.

The old kingdom of Dyfed - of which Pembrokeshire is a part - features strongly in the Mabinogion. Pwyll, a legendary prince of Dyfed, was said to have held court near Narberth, while one tale tells of King Arthur and his pursuit of the great wild boar Twrch Trwyth across Pembrokeshire.

Many legends have grown up around the Celtic saints whose hermit cells around the coastline later became chapels dedicated to their cult.

St Justinian was murdered on Ramsey Island by having his head cut off; he simply picked it up and walked across the water to the mainland.

When St Govan was fleeing from pirates, a cleft opened in the cliff to hide him; it can still be seen in the chapel which bears his name.

Legends have also become attached to the many Neolithic sites in the county. On certain nights, standing stones were said to meet to dance at a lonely crossroads, while near Brynberian is ‘Bedd yr Afanc’, the grave of a dreadful water monster rather like a giant beaver (in reality a Neolithic passage grave).

Pembrokeshire people are strong believers in witchcraft, but except for a few cases of the ‘evil eye’, wizards and witches were regarded as a force for good.

They are respected for their healing powers, and many country people still visit the local ‘charmer’ to have warts removed. In fact my brother did this and it worked very well.

As well as ghosts and mermaids, Pembrokeshire people believe in the ‘Ceffyl Dwr’ or water horse. This spectral horse would appear to unwary travellers who would be tempted to mount it, only to be carried into the sea and drowned.

Corpse candles and phantom funerals are regularly recorded; they are portents of imminent death. In fact ghost stories are well documented in the region, and very common. One of the ghosts living near Cresswell Quay, for example, is that of a gorilla, imported from north Africa in the 14th Century for the notoriously flirtatious Princess Nest, who lived in Carew Castle. The gorilla can be seen, on occasion, at the ruined windows on the north side of the castle.

Many Pembrokeshire traditions are connected with the seasons. On Christmas Eve in some farming communities, a plough is still carried into the farmhouse and placed under the table - a sign that no work is to be done during the Christmas period. On New Year’s morning, groups of lads sprinkle ‘New Year’s Water’ on householders and sing a special song in exchange for a few coppers.

Twelfth Night is still sometimes marked by wren-hunting and the ‘Mari Lwyd’ - a group of heavily disguised mummers andd musicians tour the neighbourhoods in the company of a strange horse-like puppet.

Older folk customs include cock-fighting and street football on Shrove Tuesday, while harvest time involved numerous customs, notably the competition to become ‘king of the reapers’ by severing the last tuft of hay - the ‘gwrach’ - with a sickle thrown from 20 paces. Bonfire Night was a time for rolling blazing tar barrels through the streets.

Nowadays many folk customs still survive in Pembrokeshire. And indeed when the calendar was changed in 1752 some of the New Year’s Day traditions were transferred to Old New Year’s Day, and ‘Dydd Calan Hen’ is still a day of celebration in the remote and beautiful Gwaun Valley

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Dialect

Despite the unfortunate spread of standardised English and increasing numbers of ‘incomers’ to the county, the Pembrokeshire regional language and accent still remains strong - particularly in rural areas around Martletwy (near Cresswell Quay) and on the Dale and Angle peninsulas.

Many dialect words remain in everyday use, such as ‘kift’ (awkward), ‘caffled’ (tangled), ‘tamping’ (extremely angry), ‘drang’ (a narrow alley) or ‘skirp’ (light rain), while ‘wai ay’ is the Pembrokeshire way of saying ‘yes’.

The influence of the Welsh language remains strong and indeed more people are brought up speaking Welsh every year in Wales. It is one of Western Europe's fastest growing languages. Wales has it's own Welsh language television station (S4C) and numerous regular Welsh language journals and newspapers. There are also many excellent Welsh-only speaking schools in the country, and in fact it is often mandatory to be a native Welsh speaker if you wish to enter into professions such as the Media and Politics.

Pembrokeshire, however, continues to have it's own Welsh dialect. This has been described as ‘a dialect apart’ and is far removed from standard Welsh, having absorbed numerous Flemish words down the centuries through contact with traders.

Many of these words have been adapted and altered over the years so that the originals are barely recognisable, and they add to the richness and uniqueness of Pembrokeshire Welsh.

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Crafts

In Pembrokeshire, as elsewhere, the history of traditional crafts and craftsmanship is one of inevitable decline in the face of industrialisation and mass production, followed by a revival in the later decades of the 20th century.

But where crafts were once practised as a part of everyday life, using the natural materials of the area to produce furniture, clothing and utensils for the home, nowadays the craftspeople working in Pembrokeshire tend to be skilled artists who have moved into the county and who use all kinds of materials and techniques to produce innovative and exciting work.
Woollen manufacturing has long been important in Pembrokeshire, and was given impetus by the arrival of Flemish weavers who settled in the county in the 12th and 14th centuries. By medieval times every locality had its spinners, weavers and dyers and there were fulling mills in the county from at least 1300.

Their products were mainly for domestic use, although by the 16th century the county was exporting flannel and rough woollen cloth. The second half of the 19th century saw the development of water-powered woollen mills, particularly around Solva, Narberth and the Cardiganshire border.

This spelt the end for the village hand-loom weavers - although a considerable amount of craftsmanship was still called for, as can be seen at the two mills still in operation in the county.
Pembrokeshire - and especially Solva - was once famed for its quilting, but the advent of commercially-made bedspreads saw the craft die out in the 1920s.

Happily it has been revived in recent years and the Pembrokeshire Quilters group is now thriving.
Many rural Pembrokeshire crafts have disappeared altogether - among them thatching, coopering, rope-making, tanning and currying. However, there are still saddlers, blacksmiths and farriers, stonemasons and joiners to be found carrying on their trades - often long-standing family enterprises.
There were also skilled craftsmen in the towns; Pembroke was noted for its glove-makers in the 18th century, while each town had its clock and watch-maker, its silversmith, bookbinder, hat-maker and even umbrella-maker.

Along the coast there would also have been practising boat-builders, sailmakers and net-makers to serve the coastal shipping industry. Most if not all of these crafts died out as improved transport links made cheaper, mass-produced goods widely accessible and even the remotest Pembrokeshire village no longer had to be self sufficient.
In recent decades there has been a revival of interest in crafts and craftsmanship in Pembrokeshire - a reflection towards the widespread trend away from the bland, factor-produced goods and a growing appreciation for small-scale craft-makers whose work displays both individuality and a high degree of workmanship.

In Pembrokeshire this has seen a revival of many of the traditional crafts such as pottery, cheese-making, dyeing, hand-weaving, candle-making and wood-turning, while willows are once again being grown and harvested in the county for basket-weaving.
To complement these traditional rural crafts there are many craft makers now working in the county whose work is purely artistic and decorative. These include jewellers, sculptors in wood, metal and stone, slate and driftwood artists, textile designers and calligraphers - many of whom take their inspiration from the intricate designs of the Celts who were among Pembrokeshire’s earliest craftsmen.

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Economy

The Pembrokeshire economy is mainly driven by agriculture and tourism, though in recent years there has been a significant investment in light industry. Key agricultural exports are organic dairy produce (Rachel's Yogurt and Milk products) and specialist diary products such as Upton Farm Ice Cream.

The region understandably suffers from extremely high rates of unemployment and economic depression. Tourism in the region is highly cyclical and the agricultural industry's problems have been exacerbated by Foot & Mouth disease and Mad Cow disease.

For this reason we ask you keep in mind two things during your stay:

1. Please stay at least two nights in your bed & breakfast or hotel - it is economically unprofitable to fill your bed for one night, especially during the short but busy holiday season.

2. Please consume local produce (samples of which you can try at our wedding dinner)- Many local grocery stores specialise in delicious local meats, eggs, and diary goods, many of which are organic. There is also a tradition of fantastic cheeses in the region.

Local produce:

Rachel's Yogurt (also available in London supermarkets)

Upton Farm Ice Cream (at various local outlets)

Knowles Farm Ice Cream (coming soon)

Wisebuy's Grocery Stores (Pembroke, Narberth)

Maria's (Narberth)

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