Harry Davies' Pantomimes?

 

Soon after retiring and  joining U3A I was asked to prepare something to show people how to use computers to research their family tree. Well, that really sparked an interest. I started researching my grandfather, George Henry Davies (Harry). He was a colliery farrier from Blaenllechau in the Rhondda Valley. I was two years old when he died. Sadly, I have no memories of him.

As a younger man, he joined the army in 1915. After a very short period in France, he was shipped to Salonika in Greece. These days, not many people remember that any fighting went on there. Harry stayed in Salonika until early 1918.

During 2020 the whole world changed beyond all measure as countries around the globe suffered the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic. For many, including myself, had to endure many months in lockdown with limited opportunity to go out and socialise. My music making with my recorder group, Morris dancers and folk sessions all came to a grinding halt. For many months I simply didn't feel like playing any music at all. Then a friend introduced me to the idea of making Acapella videos .

Using this system it is possible to create little arrangements with myself playing all of the parts.

Around the same time I learned that the Imperial War Museum had a set of pantomimes from the First World War Salonika front. These pantomimes were performed by a party of travelling ambulance men, the 85th Field Hospital. With the help of the Salonika Campaign Society, I’ve managed to get scanned images of the three pantomimes, Dick Whittington, Bluebeard, and Aladdin in Macedonia. They provide a strange and unique insight into the lives of soldiers posted to this long-forgotten battlefront.

At the moment, I’m trying to put together some of those Acapella videos, trying to breathe new life into those old tunes. I’m keying in each note of the tunes into Musescore software. This must be a bit like following a knitting pattern stitch by stitch with no idea what the finished item will ever look like. I’ve created some musical videos with the help of Apple iMovie and Acapella :- Pitch Perfect.

Initially, I thought I'd try to learn one or two of the tunes. I couldn't be certain that my grandfather Harry had ever attended any of these pantomimes but after a short period of study, I feel that he probably did.

The Macedonia front was quite unlike the experience of the Western Front in France. During Summer, it was fiercely hot but Winter brought freezing conditions and snow. For most of the time, the battle lines were fairly static. There was little chance of any entertainment. Only lucky soldiers managed to visit the town of Salonika. Curiously, soldiers developed a strange form of entertainment:- Racing tortoises. Well, that was impossible during Winter as the tortoises would be in hibernation.

Also, it appears that these pantomimes were incredibly popular, frequently out-performing pantomime productions staged at Drury Lane.

Let's imagine then that grandfather Harry did manage to get a ticket for the pantomime. Imagine him trudging through the snow to a small barn, nicknamed The Kopriva Palace Theatre. We'll take a seat beside him and enjoy some of the tunes that he would have enjoyed all those years ago.

I’ve finished three videos of songs from Music of Macedonia. You can see them here.

The Greek Village dance.

https://youtu.be/cmfLTDMmafA

I experienced a strange coincidence when I was looking through the music from Aladdin in Macedonia. Look at the name of the composer. Not my grandfather, G.H. Davies but a strange coincidence, another G.H. Davies.

The Greek Canteen.

https://youtu.be/jtOUe9kGt10

Farewell from Dick Whittington.

You can see and play along with more of the tunes here.

The Salonika Pantomimes

Read The Salonika Pantomimes Presentation?

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William Killey

A strange story related to a neighbour of my father. William Killey (pronounced KILL -EE) lived next door to my father's family in Prospect Place, Tylorstown.

My father, Bill Edwards served in the R.A.F. during the Second World War, stationed in North Africa. He  kept all of his wartime  souvenirs  in an old, black leather satchel. It contained all sorts of mementos from his war time service; postcards, photographs, his medals etc. Often, particularly on a Sunday afternoon, he'd sit us down and we'd look through his memories.
When my father died, I failed to hold on to the old satchel. My older brother claimed it. However, I did manage to scan and photograph most of the contents. He'd kept those items for over fifty years. and I really didn't want to lose touch with them completely

Deep down inside the wallet, I found this newspaper clipping. It tells the story of his next-door neighbour, William Killey. He had joined the navy at the start of the war. The story tells of his ship being sunk. It says that he was lost at sea. 
For many years I'd known of this clipping but I never paid much attention to it. Sad as it was, there appeared to be greater items of treasure inside that case.

This picture shows the churchyard at Old Town, St. Mary’s, Scilly Islands. The Scilly Islands are a group of small islands off the coast of Cornwall in England.  St. Mary’s is the largest of the islands, but is still very small. To give you some idea, the local comprehensive school only has about 110 pupils from all of the 5 Scilly Islands.I visited the islands during the Summer of 2002. On my final day, I visited Old Town, stopped for a cake and a coffee in a local tea shop, then took a walk through the church yard. The church yard is famous because British Prime Minister, Harold Willson is buried there.  As I was walking, I tripped and stumbled. I put my hand on a gravestone to stop myself falling. When I looked down, I noticed the name on the grave. 

It belonged to Seaman W. E. Killey.

• The grave shows his service number :- D/JX 306364.
• He died on the 20^th of February 1944.
• He served on the HMS Warwick.

Apparently HMS Warwick was torpedoed whilst patrolling the area near to Lundy Island. William's body was washed ashore on St Mary.

I've a feeling that William wanted me to find him.

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Roch, Keeston, Camrose and Hayscastle.

Roch

Roch is a little village just outside Nolton Haven. During our stay at Nolton Haven we used the little corner shop at Roch for our shopping. There is very little at Roch these days. Most of the housing is very modern. A friend told me, with a twinkle in his eye, that there used to be a small night club here. People from all over the district would congregate here on a Saturday night, then try to struggle back to their homes early on Sunday morning.

Roch is dominated by a large castle. These days it is used as a really exclusive hotel.

Folkestone Hill.

A strange name for a location in Pembrokeshire. Folkestone Hill is just outside Nolton Haven. Today, there is a farmhouse and a large caravan site there. In 1824 my great great great grandparents, Alexander Smith and his wife Ann, (Rebekha's first daughter) lived there. Alexander was a collier. His son, Thomas, my great great grandfather was baptised in Nolton in October, 1824.

Hayscastle.

Thomas really managed to improve his circumstances. By 1851, he had moved to Roch. He was now married and worked as an agricultural labourer.

By 1861 he had moved to Hermitage Farm, Hayscastle....not far from Roch. Records state that he was now a farmer of 105 acres. Maybe this was their home?

Some pictures of the church at Hayscastle.

By 1871 maybe things weren't going so well for Thomas. He'd moved to another farm, Timberhill; just 30 acres. Also, his first wife Mary had died. He had married again, this time to a lady ten years younger than Thomas, a lady called Jane.

These days, Timberhill is a holiday location. There are holiday cabins to rent there. 

Thomas was still at Timberhill in 1881. By now, my great grandfather William Smith was five years old.

Camrose.

My great grandparents, William and Martha Smith moved from Pembrokeshire some time between 1881 and 1891. William was Thomas Smith's sixth son from his first marriage. My grandmother Ann was born in 1883 so  lived in Pembrokeshire for a while. Whilst in Pembrokeshire they lived on the main road that runs from Newgale to Haverfordwest, at a farm called "Naples", close to Keeston and Camrose. Camrose church is close by. Today, Keeston and Camrose are a collection of modern and modernised houses and this church.

Naples today.

Ann Smith's birth certificate.

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Nolton Haven

Nolton Haven is a hamlet halfway along the coast of St Bride's Bay in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is included within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. It has just one pub and.....well, that's just about it.

We visited Nolton Haven in October 2019. I was interested in the place because there was such a strong link there from my Grandmother Davies' family line. My mother had told me many times that her family had come from West Wales, near Haverfordwest. Her family had links to Nolton Haven for a period of over 100 years.

Nolton Haven falls within the Landsker region of Wales; an area also known as The Little England beyond Wales. Very little Welsh is spoken in this region. I spent some time during my trip looking in churches and graveyards. I didn't come across one single gravestone inscribed in Welsh. Also the accent of the Norton locals was a strange mix of West country and Welsh. Going back to my childhood, I can clearly remember that my mother and Grandmother Davies had a very negative attitude towards the Welsh language, more or less treating it as a joke. Maybe this attitude came from their Nolton heritage.

St Madoc’s is a medieval church with a fifteenth-century porch. It was much restored in the 1850s.

November 4th 1793. My great great great great grandmother

 Rebekha Esmand married in this church, to John Griffiths, a yeoman.

They were married by Rev Moses Grant.

June 6th, 1790. My great, great, great grandmother was baptised in this font by Rev Moses Grant.

Rev. Moses Grant features a few times in the story of my family. He was a witness to the wreck of The Increase.

He baptised gr gr gr granny Anne.

He also married my gr gr gr gr granny Rebekha.

Rev. Moses Grant used a lot of his money to have a school built on the edge of the church grounds at Nolton. Maybe some of my relatives attended that school?

Rev. Grant's grave is just behind the church.

Rebecca had three other children. One, a boy named Thomas died in infancy and was buried in this churchyard on Christmas morning.

Mining.

So many of my relatives were involved in mining around this area. There is little evidence remaining in the area now, although we did spot this colliery chimney just to the North of Nolton Haven. This would have been the old Trefrane Colliery.

There is another church at Nolton Haven, The United Reform Church. I was invited to take a look at a small museum located in the vestry of the chapel. There are some interesting display boards which the church members allowed me to photograph.

Colliers

Stephen Devereux :- Druidstone. Great great great grandfather.

Alexander Smith :- Nolton Haven. Great great great grandfather.

Druidstone.

Druidstone is the next bay, to the South of Nolton Haven. My great great great grandparents, Stephen and Ann Devereux lived around here around the 1850s. There was a lot of mining going on in the area at the time. Some of the mines had deep shafts going a long way underground. Some were just simple drift mines.

Druidstone is also the place where the sailing ship The Increase ran aground on Old Christmas Day, January 4th, 1791. Also, sailing ship Linen Hall ran aground here on Christmas Day, 1810.

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James and Phebe Evans

When I first started collecting facts about my family tree, I would have been the first to admit that I knew very little about my father's family. Apart from a couple of individuals, it was as though they were within a closed book. I knew my mother's family well, even the ones that were living away. My father's family were totally different. One day, I was walking through town and a total stranger came up to me and said, "Hello. You know who I am don't you? I'm your uncle." And the thing was....he was my uncle. Also, my Edwards grandparents had neighbours who were often calling in for tea and a gossip. I was twenty years old before I realised that they were and uncle and aunt of mine.

James and Phebe Evans are from my father's closed book of a family.
Here's how the link works.

My father:- Richard William Edwards  >  my grandfather:- William Edwards  > His parents, William and Barbara Edwards> Barbara Edwards' Mother and father, James and Phebe Evans, my great great grandparents.

Learning about James and Phebe helped me to answer a few mysteries.

Here is the family entry for the 1911 census.

William at the top was my great grandfather. Barbara, was James and Phebe's daughter. The second William was my grandfather. Look at the rest of the family names. James, John, Lilwen, Maldwyn but one name sticks out like a sore thumb. Rosina. Now, I can't ever remember my father talking about Aunty Rosina although I have since learned that she was his cousin Barbara's mother. Where did that name come from?

My Edwards grandparents lived in a tiny miner's cottage. Most of their lives were lived in the back kitchen. The front'best room was dominated by a chapel organ, which neither of them could play. I've always wondered, where did that organ come from?

Also, whilst growing out as a child I realised that my father had a few unexplained talents. He could fix watches, clocks and radios. He could cut hair. He'd even help my mother with a perm. Also, he'd make a pretty good job of fixing shoes. In our household, we had a cobbler's last. Now, I never thought that was a strange object to have in a house until I was very much older but I now realise that not many people had one.....but now I think I know where it came from.

Here is James and Phebe's entry from the 1861 census.

Married at 19. Living in Narberth. His job was a shoe-maker.

By 1871 they and moved to Llandissilio. James was now a railway porter. By now, they had four children, including Barbara, my great grandmother.

By 1881 they had moved to St Ishmael's, Ferryside. 

1891. Still a porter but the family had moved to the Station Master's House. 

Note:- by now there were two eleven year old daughters in the family, Elizabeth and Martha. Initially I thought that they were twins but it appears that they were just born at opposite ends of the same year.

The last census entry comes in 1901. By now, all of the children except Martha have left home. James is now a signalman (promotion?)

Sadly, I know very little about Phebe other than that she had lots of children and that for a while, she made gloves.

I've found out a few things about James from searching through old newspaper clippings. 

I don't think that anything of much importance ever occurred at Ferryside although I'm pretty sure that James and Phebe would have known about this event. 8th February 1904.

This is from 10th February 1908.

This is from 28th of February 1908.

So sad to have died so close to his retirement party.

I've  other interesting newspaper item that mentions an organ.

So, James Evans was an organist. He also knew a Miss Rosina Davies. She lived in Ferryside, as did James. Just one problem. The James Evans that I was interested died in February 1908. This story comes from March 1917. Then I remembered. James and Phebe had a son and his name was James.

Could this be him in the 1901 census? His birth date is correct. James and Phebe did probably have a child when they were living in Llandisilio. Also I find it interesting that he is recorded as being a teacher and organist.

Here is his entry from 1911.

Who was Rosina Davies?

Rosina Davies was quite a famous evangelist from a time in history when there was a great religious revival happening in Wales. She was the great aunt of Sian Phillips, author, actress and singer.

 There is a portrait of her, completed by the artist George Frederick Harris, grandfather of Rolf Harris.

So, it may be, and I could be wrong here, that the second James Evans, the teacher and organist, somehow left his organ to his sister Barbara and eventually it found its way to my grandparents' family home in Tylorstown?

It may also be that the Evans family were in contact with Rosina Davies. Maybe they'd heard her singing and her sermons. Maybe Barbara decided to name one of her children Rosina in much the same was as today's parents would name a child after a football player, a pop star or their favourite wine?

But there again, I might be totally wrong on all counts.

In the meantime, back to the organ. Here's a clip of what that type of instrument can and should sound like.

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Steel Drums

I started teaching back in 1975 in a very big comprehensive school in South Wales. It had a fourteen form entry, so I taught about twenty classes in the first two year groups throughout the week. Around 1980, one of the classes was an all boys special needs group. I was teaching music and believe me, teaching them music was a real challenge. Their singing was awful. Reading songs was also a problem.
Now, the next door room was the metal work class, so between us, we hatched a plan. Together we'd make a set of steel drums.
Making steel drums is actually quite a complicated process. First, you have to cut the oil drum to the right height. Next bash down the surface of the drum with a hammer to make a perfect concave shape. After that, you mark out all of the different shapes with a hammer and a doohdad. By now, my hands were in shreds. Now comes the fun. Place the drum on a fire until it is almost white hot, remove from the fire and quench it with a bucket of cold water....steam everywhere. Finally, you go behind each individual note and 'pong up' . This involves hitting the back of each note with a small hammer. That section then 'pongs up' and suddenly, the note rings true with that classic Caribbean sound.
Steel drums, like many other instruments come in different sizes. Ponging up wasn't a problem with the small and medium sized drums but the bass drums were a different matter. We'd taken only the bottom off the bass drums so somebody would actually have to get up inside the bass drum to pong it up. We placed the drum across the edges of two desks and I was about to bravely crawl up inside the drum with my lump hammer when a small boy stepped forward and said, "Sir, let me do that for you."......so I let him.
Small boy gets up inside the drum.....silent pause for a moment then BOOOOONNNNG.

He came out a lot quicker than he went in and believe me, it was just like a scene from Wile E Coyote with the poor boy's body quivering like a struck bell.

I did get the drums finished although tuning them beat me in the end.
I moved school shortly after that and soon after that they invented health and safety.

Phil

Granny Rebekha's Shipwreck.

Granny Rebekha's Shipwreck.

1791

A wooden sailing ship called The Increase was run aground off Druidstone Head. She was carrying a cargo of rum and gunpowder. Rebecca would have been 22 at the time. I haven't found any evidence to place Rebekha anywhere near this event. At this time, she would have been an unmarried mother aged twenty two. Baby Ann would have been just six months old. I can't know for sure what she was doing at the time but personally I hope that she was at home minding the baby. However, it is impossible to believe that she was unaware of this event.

I've been given an eye witness report of the incident thanks to the National Museum of Wales. It is a single sheet report, handwritten, giving a detailed account of the event.

The Testament of Francis Warlow.

Here is a transcription. A few of the words are illegible. It tells the story of the wreck of the sailing ship The Increase on January the fourth 1791 and of the wreck of another ship, the Linen Hall, wrecked at almost exactly the same place nineteen years later. Incredibly hard to read but we should all remember, this was written with a quil pen and a bottle of ink.

The Testament of Frances Warlow

January 4th 1791

This evening at ten or eleven o’clock the ship Increase of Scarborough in the ordnance service having  sailed last August with gunpowder to the West Indies. On her return with condemned gunpowder and other stores last from Saint Christopher’s was stranded on Druidston. All the crew, consisting of Francis Pawson, master, Joseph Anthony  of ……………..a woman…………. together with eight men and boys  being in all eleven, continued on board ‘till the tide left the ship and then took refuge at Druidston.

The people on the shore ……….. the crew to save their lives and their property; but one trunk was carried off and broken for which , Thomas Philphane and Richard Lewis of Little Haven. (name) and William  (name) of Simbre, yeoman were tried at Haverford in the March following and acquitted.

No measures being there that night, nor next morning nor anybody sent to by the master to ……….in protecting the ship from being plundered and the ship deserted.. The next day being Old Christmas Day which ever since the alteration of the time in 1742 is observed by the common people as a Holy Day, a large body of people collected, some for plundered others to look on and took …..of the ship, as soon as the tide permitted, about nine or ten o’clock of which time, Moses Grant, the rector of the parish watched, chilly and having asked the sail master storekeeper what they wished to save firstly. Carts were sent for and orders given to take the gunpowder over the side next to the sea which was done but the people on board being intoxicated on rum were in general very disorderly and threw several barrels of gunpowder over the side next to the cliff, dashing them on the stones in order to get the copper hoop. John Watts of Little Haven, miller, threw an iron crow and gun barrel  on the stones on that side about twelve o’clock of noon of the fifth which fired the gunpowder scattered among the pebbles on which the crowd was thick as they could stand and there being about sixty or more were burned by three explosions were heard within three or four seconds of time - The Gunpowder after the casks were beaten off remaining in large lumps.

One woman, Elizabeth Lewis of Haroldstonwest was killed on the spot. Two others were of Folkenny being arm in arm with the other died in three days. Harry and ……. men of Sinibra died the next day. Thomas Miller, lad of Nolton died in a week . Elizabeth Williams girl of the wood also died. Joseph Jones of Nolton languished in great misery for several weeks and Page, Lad of Walter also died being in all eight who lost their lives by this calamity women suffering more than the men on account of their flowing dresses; and the burning cloth did more harm in general than the gunpowder. The faces of almost all were scorched and continue to subject on the ……. of many that recovered dreadful marks of their temerity and will continue when they approach the grave. One Lad, J Miller recovered the burned……..had his skull fractured in two places.

This calamity is plainly intended as a warning to desist from wreck plundering for none were hurt on the side next to the sea where the persons stood who were endeavouring to save. This side only, where the fine were, the plunderers stood. May this be a warning on future occurring for it find but little effect in the spirit; For then, the cliff resounded with the groans of the miserable suffering - with the lamentations and eager enquiries of fathers by their children every one being reluctantly anxious for the safety of fathers, for their wives, of brothers, for sisters, of children of their parish, everyone being mutually anxious for the safety of their nearest relatives, and thereby ………… ……. from plunder took place. Get the goods……………burning and continued until the evening when by request of Captain Pawson a few military men arrived and apprehended several about twelve o’clock that night two of whom were also tried at Hereford and acquitted.

The rigging, mast and hull were preserved.

This memorandum is recorded by a spectator of the calamity and to perpetuate the memory of such a singular disaster which sends out a providential judgement. May all of this in the future be warned from such depredations.

August 24th 1791

Another ship called the Linen Hall from Dublin, bound for the West Indies in ballast was stranded on the night of 25th of December 1810 in the same place as the above, that is she was driven against the Northern side of a little creek called Hespifo (?) under Druidston Cliff. Totally wrecked. No lives lost. Little plundered. She was tore up and her timber and rigging sold to the country people.

                                                                          Francis Warlow.

I know very little about the life of Rebekha Esmond. I do know that three major events in her life happened on Christmas Day.

• Th wreck of the sailing ship The Increase. (On Old Christmas Day) (1791)
• The burial of her infant son Thomas. (1805)
• The wreck of the sailing ship The Linen Hall. (1810)

Note. Reading that document wasn't easy. It took about a week. Eventually I resorted to projecting the image onto a wall. With Lynda, my wife's help we managed to read most of it with just a few words defeating us. 

One line in particular made me feel as if somebody was walking over my grave.

• This memorandum is recorded by a spectator of the calamity and to perpetuate the memory of such a singular disaster which sends out a providential judgement. May all of this in the future be warned from such depredations.

Towards the end of reading through the document I was starting to feel that the last line would read something link:- "And the treasure will be found beneath the third pine tree to the left of the big rock." but sadly it didn't, so the quest for the family silver goes on.

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