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Lloyd George loved the dramatic as in his Limehouse speech in the East End of London given in posh English to Cockneys. Given he was born in Manchester and then went to Sir Benfro I doubt if he had a first language - he was a real bilingual which is not that common.

Where Lloyd George turned nasty in Ireland and had to be restrained by King George V was in unleashing the black and tans. Yet the worst atrocities in Ireland were in the Civil War after the treaty. De Valera had Michael Collins murdered. Erskine Childers was executed merely for owning a firearm. For a long time people voted according to which side their grandfather had been on in the Civil War.

I knew my dates were a bit off there - thanks, Christie. And wasn't Lloyd-George also known for having a flair for the dramatic? My knowledge of this period is mainly informed by Morgan Llywelyn's Irish Century quintet (the second book covers the partition fight - 1921 is the title). As to the revival of the Irish language, much of the responsibility goes to Patrick Pearse, the one-time headmaster of the old Scoil Eanna (St Enda's School).

John, where in New England? I live here, too (Salem, MA, to be exact).

Lloyd George was PM from 1916 to 1922. He had helped push through Irish Home Rule in 1914. The Ulstermen then formed an armed militia with guns provided by Germany . Then there was war in 1914. The Irish party agreed to suspend home rule. The Ulster militia volunteered to fight in France and died on the Somme. There was an uprising in Dublin in 1916. After the war Lloyd George could hardly abandon the former. Besides if the Irish had a right to secede from the UK the Ulstermen had the right to secede from Ireland.

Lloyd George saved the Irish language. During the Treaty negotiations he spoke openly in Welsh to his secretary Thomas Baker Jones so the Irish could not understand. They decided they wanted a secret language of their own and so revived Erse. .

Thanks Joanna!!

You were right Laverbread was a no go because of the Laver and cockles and hard to come by(this laverbread was new to me but sounds delicious). As per your advice I "winged" it. It was kind of funny shopping for the leeks with my 3 y/o son- he is very chatty just now and kept asking what they were. We made Wesh rarebit (per a recipee I found in a little touris Welshcookbook- they had Laverbread as well but yours sounded better). And I made mashed potatos with leeks- My 11 and 13 y/o girls are not big meat eaters so no lamb- alas but a salad with soft herbed goat cheese walnuts and in deference to New England (where we live) dried cranberries. I am on a mission to find the Laver that is mentioned in my recipe onlinefor next year- I am only finding sushi type seaweed!! I will say, I would love to make this next time my Mother comes to visit- she would get a kick out of it.

Thanks agaion for sharing!!

JOHN

Christie Davies wrote:

That also reminds me what a complete pig Andrew Jackson was.He ought not to be on a banknote, not after disposessing the Cherokees.

As a Yank, I agree wholeheartedly. In his time, Andrew Jackson was disparaged as "King Andrew" due to the way he presided from the Oval Office - the Trail of Tears is just the most glaring example of his Presidency. The Native Americans have been treated as shoddily as the Celtic tribes of Britain and Ireland, IMO, and they'restill getting royally shafted today. If there were any justice, Leonard Peltier would have, like Nelson Mandela was by South Africa's government, been pardoned by the US Government and gone on to become President - but that will never happen.

But Wales is not without its ignominies - David Lloyd-George, PM of Britain from 1918-1924, was the man who forced the Irish to accept partition, and was often called "the Welsh Wizard" for his ability to manipulate any situation to suit him (and, by extension, Britain). As such, I don't think history should hold him in high regard.

And that's as political as I'll get for now.

The Welsh Jews will not be eating bacon and cockles as both are traife nor will they be chasing Welsh lamb down with Caerffili cheese.

The Welsh Jews may be few in number but they have produced Wales' only Nobel prize winner and one third of Wales best modern poets. Go to Clydach and you will a statue of Ludwig Mond the great chemist and entrepreneur who made many a nickel for Wales

Anti-semites like Saunders Lewis are a disgrace whom all decent Welsh people should denounce and despise

Hi John

Ourdinner tonight will consist of:lavabred panfried with bacon and cockles (guess you'll struggle on the core ingredient which is a Welsh seaweed delicacy!); then for main course it's my favouriterack of welsh saltmarsh lamb served on a bed of sauteed leeks. We're not well known for our deserts so I usually serveJoe's ice cream (sorry, another local ingredient!) and then welsh goats cheese with oatcrackers. Delicious! As long as you include a combination of lamb, leeks and cheese you wont go far wrong.