Lady Llanover and the National Costume of Wales

Augusta Hall, ‘Lady Llanover’, 1802-1896

To start off Women’s History Month which falls on St David’s Day, I thought Lady Llanover who was a pioneer for Welsh folk culture and keeping Welsh traditions alive was quite apt.

  • Augusta Waddington was born on the 21st of March 1802 to Benjamin Waddington and Georgina Port, Llanover, Monmouthshire. 
  • Augusta married Benjamin Hall of Abercarn and Hensol - he was an MP before becoming a peer in 1859. He oversaw the building of the great clock of Westminster, the bell and tower was called 'Big Ben' in recognition of his work. 

Lady Llanover was an advocate for Welsh folk culture, her home became a meeting place for Welsh poets, authors and musicians. She favoured the traditional ways of life, which included Welsh speakers as servants, Welsh services at Llanover church, and made sure the Welsh language was taught at the two schools in Llanover. Augusta became one of the main promoters of the triple harp as the national instrument of Wales, her contributions are connected with the eisteddfodau of Cymdeithas Cymreigyddion y Fenni (The Abergavenny Cymreigyddion Society).  Furthermore, she ‘resurrected’ a family harpist as a tradition, and gave scholarships to learn to play the harp at Llanover. The traditions of the Mari Lwyd (more information here) and the Plygain (more information here) were prominent, she organised dances at Llanover to preserve Welsh folk dance.

Her essay on ‘The Advantages resulting from the Preservation of the Welsh Language and National Costumes of Wales’ won in 1834 under her bardic name ‘Gwenynen Gwent’. This essay, along with the National Costumes of Wales album formed the basis of Welsh national dress which was seen in national celebrations. Llanover wore the costume every Sunday and her ‘sponsorship of competitions for the best cloth or flannel samples, knitted or dyed in the national check or strips, introduced the craft element to the eisteddfod’.

Sian Rhiannon Williams stated that Llanover was 'an important figure in the creation of the image of the ideal 'Cymraes'. Her drawings of local native dress formed the basis of a national costume worn by the typical Welsh 'girl'. Cymraes meaning 'Welshwoman'.  (see bibliography for citation) 

John Davies demonstrated that Augusta's effort to preserve Welsh folk culture was prominent in her home life, she wanted Llanover Court to become the focus of Welsh culture and 'it became the repository of the manuscripts of Iolo Morganwg and it was there that the image of what came to be regarded as the traditional Welsh costume was created'. 


Image of Welsh women's national costume, photo taken by me. The image can be found at St Fagan's National Museum of History's exhibition 'Cymru... Wales... is'

Sadly, after the death of her husband in 1867 Llanover retreated from public life. She died in 1896 and was buried in the cemetery of St Bartholomew, Llanover. 

Bibliography:

Augusta Hall, https://www.peoplescollection.wales/content/bee-gwent

Image of Augusta Hall https://www.peoplescollection.wales/items/7248#?xywh=-160%2C-56%2C1159%2C701

John Davies. A History of Wales. 2007. (page 376)

Sian Rhiannon Williams ‘The True ‘Cymraes’: Images of Women in Women’s Nineteenth-Century Welsh Periodicals’ in ‘Our Mothers’ Land: Chapters in Welsh Women’s History, 1830-1939 edited by Angela V. John. (page 77)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BOOK REVIEW - Will McLean Greeley ‘Connecticut Yankee Goes to Washington: Senator George P. McLean, Birdman of the Senate’.

 *BOOK REVIEW* - kindly gifted.   Will McLean Greeley ‘Connecticut Yankee Goes to Washington: Senator George P. McLean, Birdman of the Senate’.  This book was a welcome change to my usual reads, it was clear and to the point. I enjoyed the references to what George P. McLean was passionate about, and how progressive he was. I truly believe he was ‘before his time’ with the conservation of migratory birds, as well as his views on mental health and his struggles (mentally) during his political career, he became an advocate for mental health in his adult life before establishing an association of physicians, psychiatrists researchers and other mental health practitioners.  I also appreciate how Will questioned the language used during George’s career, he addressed it and highlighted how the language used was ‘offensive and disparaging’ and certain terms had ‘become increasingly offensive and unacceptable’, and that ‘it’s a sad reminder that racism is embedded in almos...
Read more

TV Recommendation: Bettany Hughes' Pompeii: Secrets of the Dead.

Image
  I recently watched Bettany Hughes’ documentary which focused on the victims of the Mount Vesuvius eruption in 79 AD (the documentary is currently on my5 and was broadcast on Thursday the 28th October). As a big fan of her documentaries, I was intrigued to see what this documentary would entail. I have watched many of Bettany’s programmes, including the various ancient Egypt documentaries, as well as ones including Ancient Greece, and lastly Rome/Pompeii and they have all been equally fascinating/interesting.             The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD has been coined as ‘one of the deadliest eruptions in Europe’. Many of Pompeii, Oplontis, and Stabiae’s inhabitants were buried under ash, whilst Lapilli and Herculaneum were buried under a mudflow (taken from here ). Furthermore, an article written by Jessica Ball stated that the eruption killed more than 16,000 people due to the ash, mud, and rocks that rained down o...
Read more

Aneurin Bevan - 'Father of the NHS'

Image
     Hi! This is the first post of a new series that I have wanted to start for a long time, I have called it 'Welsh Figure Wednesdays'. These posts will feature important Welsh figures who have contributed to Welsh society in many ways.    In this blog post, we will be discussing Aneurin Bevan and his role in Welsh politics and the National Health Service.                                                                 ( This image was found  here ) Aneurin (pronounced as an-eye-rin) 'Nye' Bevan was born in Tredegar, in 1897, into a large mining family. Aneurin left school at the age of thirteen to work in the mine, later he became active in trade unionism and a well-known orator and social commentator.      During the 1920s Bevan worked ti...
Read more