Post by Heron on Jan 30, 2008 10:22:42 GMT -1
As Imbolc is the festival of Brighid, or Ffraid to give her Welsh name, this gives me the chance to relate a little local history. Near to where I live is a lane known as Lôn GlanFrêd in the local dialect, more properly Glan Ffraid ( Blessed Ffraid). There is, a local legend that the current village church was originally supposed to be there and dedicated to her but that it kept falling down when they tried to build it in the Eleventh Century. Eventually a voice from the clouds announced that they should build the church instead to Mihangel (Michael) a mile or so away at the mouth of the glen. So the church is now ‘Llanfihangel’ rather than ‘Llansanffraid’ and the parish name ‘Llanfihangel Genau’r Glyn’ (‘The church of Michael at the mouth of the glen’). It is said that this church was originally constructed partly from the remains of a wooden motte and bailey castle on the hill above, erected by a Norman called Walter de Bec on what looks like the site of an old hill fort, but destroyed soon after by the Welsh. It is still known as ‘Castell Gwallter’ (Walter’s Castle) and the previous parish name was ‘Llanfihangel Castell Gwallter’ so the ‘Genau’r Glyn’ name must have replaced it later in the light of the legend.
Back at Glan Ffraid, on the banks of the River Eleri, there is now an old farmhouse bearing the name Glanfrêd which originally belonged to the Pryse family, the local squires from the nearby mansion of Gogerddan, whose coat of arms is still visible in the wall of one of the old stone barns. Here, sometime in the early 17th Century, was born one Bridget Pryse. I have often wondered if her first name is a co-incidence or if she was given it because of the association of the site with Ffraid. She became the mother of the Welsh naturalist, linguist and antiquarian Edward Lhuyd, author of Archaeologia Brittannica (1707) and after whom the Snowdon Lily (Lloydia serotina) is named.
I will celebrate this festival by walking the short distance from my home to GlanFrêd and down to Cwm Eleri. At the river I will cast something into the waters for Ffraid and when I return will light a candle for her blessing on our hearth along with the other rites of the Hearth that we perform at this time of year.
Back at Glan Ffraid, on the banks of the River Eleri, there is now an old farmhouse bearing the name Glanfrêd which originally belonged to the Pryse family, the local squires from the nearby mansion of Gogerddan, whose coat of arms is still visible in the wall of one of the old stone barns. Here, sometime in the early 17th Century, was born one Bridget Pryse. I have often wondered if her first name is a co-incidence or if she was given it because of the association of the site with Ffraid. She became the mother of the Welsh naturalist, linguist and antiquarian Edward Lhuyd, author of Archaeologia Brittannica (1707) and after whom the Snowdon Lily (Lloydia serotina) is named.
I will celebrate this festival by walking the short distance from my home to GlanFrêd and down to Cwm Eleri. At the river I will cast something into the waters for Ffraid and when I return will light a candle for her blessing on our hearth along with the other rites of the Hearth that we perform at this time of year.
