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15 July 2009
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The Voices Recordings


About this interview
Friends Friends meet in 'The Trewern Arms' at Sir Benfro to talk about the days of farming, local characters and how they feel words are evolving.

Interviewees:
Jac Williams, Glyn Phillips, Peter John, Alun James, Mair James, Ieuan James, Jennie Howells,

Click on names to find out more about the participants.

Relationship of interviewees: Friends

Where: Nanhyfer, Sir Benfro (Pembrokeshire)

Language of interview: Welsh
About this interview
Voice clip 1
One of the group tells a story about buying tobacco for the Queen of the Gypsies, while waiting at the milk stand with the local farmers.



More clips from this interview

Alun James, Farmer
Alun laments that local sayings about farming are dying out because of mechanisation.
Interview's notes

Long description of interview: The group all know each other. A few members of the group are old friends. They are all over the age of 50 years. Most of them had things in common, such as working in agriculture, or having been a farmer but now retired, working as a mechanic in a garage, working as a blacksmith and a retired primary school teacher. Talking about the good old days of farming, how words are evolving, stories about the gypsies that used to live in the area, other local characters, memories of working in the garage and as a blacksmith caught the attention of the group. Sometimes, the energy really took off when certain dialectical words were discussed and when old stories were told.

Recorded by: Yvonne Evans, Radio Cymru

Date of interview: 2005/01/06
Interview's notes

Jonnie Robinson, Curator, English accents and dialects, British Library Sound Archive, writes:


The people that I thought were very very interesting people were the gypsies and there was a character living in Pembrokeshire, queen of the gypsies, Marjorie Lovell. I remember getting a call many years ago now... old Marge has died by now... to meet a farmer by a milk stand down in Castell Haidd and at that time five or six farmers would bring their milk out to the same milk stand, and I was to go and meet one of the farmers by there.


But who came up the road while we were there but Marjorie Lovell and because she'd seen me... I think it's because she saw that I'd dressed slightly better than the farmers, she came to me immediately to try and sell some paper flowers. And then, as I was a bit scared of her, I bought these flowers. Then after I bought the flowers she tried to sell me two dozen pegs and because my wife and I had only just moved in to our first home after getting married, I bought two dozen pegs from her. And then she... after I bought the pegs from her, she wanted me to buy her an ounce of tobacco, because she smoked a pipe, and she persuaded... And I was stupid enough to buy her an ounce of tobacco, yes I did.


And when I gave her the ounce of tobacco she gave me a kiss; I think I was stinking for a month! But the interesting point was when I went back to Fishguard I found that I'd paid double what I should have paid for the pegs to start with!


   

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