Caitlin Moran's TV column, The Times. "Tom Jones singing? It's an energy ray from deep within his gonads".
Welsh Music
updated by @gaynor-madoc-leonard: 11/11/15 10:38:16PM
Forum Activity for @gaynor-madoc-leonard
Galician Celtic ritual: Queimada
General Discussions ( Anything Goes )
Hallo Glyndwr
I did like the scroll, it's a wonderful thing to have.
I think the Hairy Bikers experienced quite a bit of rain in Northern Spain (clearly it doesn't only fall "on the plain"!). Lucky you, living in Spain -I particularly love Andalusia, especially Seville.
Best wishes
Gaynor
Galician Celtic ritual: Queimada
General Discussions ( Anything Goes )
No, neither can I!! I was prepared to say that I'd done something wrong too. I wonder if we have any Galician people on Americymru?
Galician Celtic ritual: Queimada
General Discussions ( Anything Goes )
Lastnight I learned something new about our Celtic cousins in Galicia, Spain. The Hairy Bikers (for those of you who haven't come across them, two really nice men who love to cook and travel on their motorbikes to do so) did a tour of Europe (about 8000kms) learning about and demonstrating baking in different countries. The final programme showed them in northern Spain. In Galicia, they were invited to a queimada which is a Celtic ritual to rid the neighbourhood of bad spirits and ensure good things for the local people. There did seem to be a touch of the wicker man about it! Queimada is also the name of the firewater they make to drink at the ceremony and which looked pretty lethal. You can read a bit more about it on http://spanishfood.about.com/od/drinks/a/queimadaritual.htm .
Lastnight's programme will also turn up on BBC i-player, possibly next week or the week after. Look for Hairy Bikers Bakeation.
updated by @gaynor-madoc-leonard: 11/11/15 10:38:14PM
Richard Burton - a sense of wonder
General Discussions ( Anything Goes )
Thanks for posting that, SJ. Excellent.
Richard Burton - a sense of wonder
General Discussions ( Anything Goes )
Tonight on BBC4, Michael Parkinson recalled an interview with Richard Burton from 1974. The interview took place soon after Burton had emerged from what we now call "rehab" and was done very informally in front of an audience of BBC kitchen staff.
Burton, smoking cigarette after cigarette with somewhat shaky hands was, nevertheless, splendid.
It was good to be reminded not only of his glorious voice but of his articulacy, his erudition and his brilliance as an actor. He told an amusing story of when he and Elizabeth Taylor were hoping to adopt a German girl (Maria). Burton was playing Hamlet in New York and the German authorities sent a group over to check on him; six or seven of them attended a performance of Hamlet and Elizabeth Taylor warned Burton that he had to be polite to these people. Consequently, he went on stage to do "To be or not to be" and performed the whole soliloquy in German which delighted the visitors! Apparently Claudius and Polonius, hiding behind the arras, were bloody furious.
Parky reminded Burton that Neville Coghill had once said that he'd taught only two people of genius; one was WH Auden and the other was Richard Burton. Burton said that he had failed to live up to such a generous assessment but hoped to do better and fulfil Coghill's expectations.
What came across in the interview was (a) his absolute love of Wales and pride in being Welsh, (b) his erudition, (c) his self-deprecation, (d) his sense of humour and (e) his sense of wonder about the world.
I had a bit of lump in my throat at the end, I have to admit. I don't know if this will be on the BBC's website but it's worth looking it up.
updated by @gaynor-madoc-leonard: 11/11/15 10:38:14PM
The Shining Company by Rosemary Sutcliff
Welsh History
Lindsey Davis, author of the wonderful Falco series of books (if you haven't yet read these, I really recommend them) has a new book out called Master and God which is about the Emperor Domitian. Davis is an avowed fan of Rosemary Sutcliff and mentions in passing "The Girl I Kissed at Clusium", a song which Sutcliff wrote for her Eagle novels. I suspect that although Sutcliff was brought up in a gentler age, she might have been secretly amused by Davis's own military song suggestion: "The Boy I Kissed at Colonia Aggripinensis".
The Shining Company by Rosemary Sutcliff
Welsh History
Back to R Sutcliff again! I got A Sword at Sunset, one of her adult books, which is a really interesting take on the Arthur story and clearly took a lot of historical research. Arthur in this is known as Artos the Bear and is created Count of Britain by Ambrosius, taking over from Ambrosius after his death. As in Mary Stewart's books, the Guinevere figure's lover is Bedwyr (both soldier and harpist/bard). The story focuses on the almost relentless tide of invaders and Artos's similarly relentless battle to turn that tide. While not as romantic as the usual Arthur stories, it is very moving and I recommend it.
A young person's book, The Outcast, is also worth reading. Beric, who is found as a tiny babyat the seashore after a Roman boat is wrecked on the south coast of what is now England (the Romney Marsh area) and taken in by a native tribesman, faces difficulties in being accepted by certain members of the tribe. Although he proves himself in all sorts of ways, there comes a time when he is blamed for things that have happened (bad weather, dead lambs etc) and cast out from the tribe. Being at least half Roman, he is told to go to his own people even though he has no experience of Romans and doesn't speak Latin. The book tells of the hard times he goes through over the next 4 years.
The Shining Company by Rosemary Sutcliff
Welsh History
Just another mention for Rosemary Sutcliff. I got "Sun Horse, Moon Horse" which is Sutcliff's take on the beautiful chalk Uffington horse. Her story has a member of the Iceni actually creating the horse although I won't give away the entire story of how that came about. Yet again, it's a wonderful tale and would make a marvellous film/TV drama. The website www.hows.org.uk has pictures of the horse which is the most extraordinary work of art and really gives an impression of a horse galloping across the landscape (and it is over 2000 years old).In theauthor's note at the start of the book, Sutcliff mentions TC Lethbridge's theory (from his bookWitches)that the Iceni (which apparently means Horse People) who inhabited what is now East Anglia became the Epidi of Argyll (Epidi also meaning Horse People). Another one to get from your library!
The Shining Company by Rosemary Sutcliff
Welsh History
I'm pleased to have had a response regarding Rosemary Sutcliff, thank you. Her books will never leave my shelves. I confess that I have not seen the recent Eagle film; the reviews were not very good and I have an affection for the BBC's version of The Eagle of the Ninth (with Anthony Higgins). I'm going to check on any Sutcliff novels which I haven't already read as I really enjoyed The Shining Company; I actually found a couple of tears running down my cheek as the remaining company left Catraeth for the final battle against the Saxons. What a wonderful film it would make, providing it was made with respect for the book (and in the native languages!).
