Wales

Dylan Thomas's famous story 'The Outing', written in the post-war years but probably set around 1920, describes the young Dylan, on a charabanc trip and waiting for his uncle and others outside a pub called the Mountain Sheep. A Shoni-Onions man cycles up and the young Dylan says to him, "Quelle un grand matin, monsieur", getting the reply "There's French, boy bach!"

It's a great story, shapeless and formless but fascinating. You do wonder about how many of the onion sellers were actually French - I suppose they've become a cliche for our perception of France and Frenchmen. I like the story (is it from Max Boyce?) where someone confronts a French rugby player who has just punched a Welsh forward - "You wait till you come to our valley next October. You won't sell a single onion!"