Comparaci´ on con DeLP

31 _{Photograph reproduced from the NMW website <www.museumwales.ac.uk> [accessed 15 April 2015]. Mrs}

Henry Lewis is positioned centre left. Although not evident in the print, the women in the background were wearing the colours associated with the Women’s Suffrage Movement; purple to represent the royal blood flowing through their veins, white for purity and green to represent hope and spring. The colours were adopted by both militant and non-militant campaigners.

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The location of the society in Cardiff is significant. Cardiff was undergoing significant developments in the first decade of the twentieth century; the recently-founded University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire (now Cardiff University) was expanding in Cathays Park (the Main Building was completed in 1911), City Hall formed a central focus of the new Civic Centre and plans were in motion to create the country’s first National Museum following a royal charter obtained in 1907. Moreover, it represented a time when the concept of a distinctive Welsh identity was recognised not only as a marker for individuals but as something to be performed by the masses. However, the focus on nationhood existed both as a form of self- identification and as a symbol of the country’s development; on 28 October 1905, Cardiff, which contained the world’s largest coal exporting port, was officially granted city status by King Edward VII (although it was another 50 years until it was recognised as the capital city of Wales).

The relationship between a burgeoning sense of nationhood for the people of Wales and their part in (or reaction to) the wider issue of women’s suffrage was not easily negotiated. This was especially true of the attacks upon Lloyd George, in particular those that occurred at national

eisteddfodau. At the National Eisteddfod held in Wrexham in 1912, persistent interruptions to

Lloyd George’s address by suffragettes invoked angry reactions from the other members in the crowd. According to one report in the press, ‘the police were helpless to protect their charges from the infuriated mass [...] each of the women were smacked on the face, each one lost her hat, each one had bundles of hair torn ruthlessly from their root, and each one suffered

indignities’.32 _{Later the same month (September 1912), a warning discouraging the attendance of}

suffragettes was published prior to Lloyd George presenting an address in his native home, Llanystumdwy, a village on the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynydd (North Wales). However, the plea was made in vain.

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Violence directed towards the serving Chancellor at national events had an earlier

precedent; at the National Eisteddfod held at Royal Albert Hall in London in June 1909, a dozen suffragettes were ejected from the venue. Acknowledging the disruption, Lloyd George ironically asked ‘A oes heddwch?’ (English, ‘and is there peace?’), a question that has been historically asked as part of the Gorsedd of the Bards ceremony, while the women were escorted out of the hall.33

Moreover the use of the Welsh language and the suffrage campaign was highlighted. Despite the suffragettes carrying posters marked with the words ‘Pleidlais i ferched’ (English, ‘Vote for

Women’), Lloyd George stated (in Welsh): ‘For all that poor woman knows I may now being speaking in advocacy of women’s suffrage. Pity somebody did not teach them Welsh; it might help to civilize them’.34 _{Here, Lloyd George’s statement not only highlights the notion that the}

suffrage campaign was perceived to be spearheaded by Anglophone women (either Welsh or English), but more importantly suggests that the advancement of a civilized, Welsh society and the plight for women’s voting rights were mutually exclusive. Supporting this view, the Daily Mail explained that for ‘men from the quarries, the hills and the pastures [...] Mr Lloyd George [was] something more than a man, to [them] he [was] a national institution’.35 _{Once again, we must}

wonder: where are the (musical) women of Harlech?

Engendering Wales

While this chapter has thus far detailed instances of Welsh masculinity through music (in print and in press), an examination of the suffrage movement in Wales showed that women, too, were involved in the political sphere.36 _{In the following section, I will uncover the cultural contexts in}

which gendered identities were fashioned in Wales. Although a country firmly part of the United Kingdom, Wales has maintained a distinct form of cultural identity since it came under English

33 _{Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard, 25 June 1909.}

34 _{Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard, 25 June 1909. The original Welsh text was not published.} 35 _{Daily Mail, 21 September 1912. Quoted in Wallace, p.97.}

36 _{It is worth remembering here that Llewellyn’s novel was published in 1939, several decades after the suffrage}

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rule in 1282. In this matter, the people of Wales have shown a strong determination to reflect their own sense of what it is to be Welsh within the framework of a larger English hegemonic structure. Crucial here was the use of the Welsh language. Welsh is an archaic language closely linked with the native forms of communication used in Brittany and Cornwall; they are known collectively as the P-Celtic Brythonic languages, while Manx, Scots and Irish Gaelic are

considered to be Q-Celtic Goidelic languages. However, the continued use of the native language in Wales has not occurred without difficulties. In particular, increasing pressures have been placed upon the people of Wales throughout the centuries from their Anglophone leaders, especially in the realms of religion, government and education.

During the nineteenth century, children heard speaking in Welsh in some schools were shamed with a wooden sign placed around their neck (known as the Welsh Not or Welsh Note), which would be passed to the next child who spoke the language; the child wearing the placard at the end of the day was subjected to physical punishment in the form of a lashing with a cane. Such matters regarding language are still pertinent in education today. While the Welsh Not harshly discouraged the use of the native language in the classroom setting, learning Welsh is now a compulsory part of school education in Wales irrespective of whether a child is residing in a monoglot or a bilingual area. Moreover, proficiency in Welsh has an ability to wield a form of political power since employment opportunities in government roles as well as those in the heritage sectors are often earmarked for individuals who can speak Welsh fluently.

In terms of national identity, however, it is interesting to consider not only the place of Wales within the United Kingdom, but also within the larger context of Europe. As R. Merfyn Jones noted in 1992, the concept of creating l’Europe des regions was a notion that promised not only collective power for ‘a wider federal Europe’ but also power for individual countries since governmental responsibilities were to be handed ‘downward to the devolved regions’.37 _He

argues, in particular, that leaders debated how their nations could define a broad European

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identity while maintaining a sense of native belonging. Here, Merfyn Jones highlights that some nations have managed to do just that – namely the Welsh and the Scots; both have preserved their own form of national identity for centuries despite not possessing the power to make governmental decisions. Of course, the situation has changed since the time Merfyn Jones was writing in the early 1990s; in 1997, a Welsh Assembly was founded and a building constructed when Wales became a devolved nation. In 1999, Scotland followed suit when a Scottish Parliament was formed and built.

The question of Welsh identity for the people of Wales did not have to be raised in the same way as it did for the English or for the French. Moreover, Welsh identity (or perhaps identities) is perceived ipso facto by the Welsh themselves and also by visitors to Wales.38

Historically it has been English travellers in Wales who have observed the facets of Welsh identity – the language, the culture, and in some cases, the geography – before disseminating their newly-found information in printed books, such as George Borrow’s Wild Wales (1862). Here, Borrow (1803–1881) presents a romanticised account of his experiences while travelling through Wales; Borrow follows in the wake of other English writers at the time who idealised the Celtic unknown. Although such publications relied upon a literate audience in the nineteenth century (a fact that meant a knowledge of Wales and of ‘the Welsh’ were restricted to those who could read), an account published by Trevor Fishlock in 1972 suggests that the concept of Welsh identity was still not fully understood in England despite its neighbouring location. Fishlock, a writer who was sent to explore Wales in 1968, admits that he ‘knew nothing of [Wales’] history, [and] little of its geography. At school [he was] told that “Wales=coal”’ and nothing more.39

From this standpoint, it is unsurprising that Wales remained ‘an attractive enigma’ not only for Fishlock but for others too.40

38 _{Ibid., p.331.}

39 _{Trevor Fishlock, Wales and the Welsh (London: Cassell, 1992), p.vii.} 40 _{Fishlock, p.1.}

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However, Fishlock reiterates a standard representation of Wales that had been fashioned in the past and replicated in his present. Of significance here is his recognition that music making was inextricably associated with national identity. For example, he notes that ‘it is true that Welshmen sing like angels, [...] compete and dress up in eisteddfodau, [... and] pluck harps’.41 _From

his account, it is clear that music has an important role in the shaping of a gendered conception of nationhood in the country. Here, the relationship will be further explored with reference to the extant scholarly literature.

Laying the Foundations: Examining the Literature

The combination of the three principal strands of this thesis, namely gender, identity and choral singing have not yet been comprehensively documented in musicology or theorised in

ethnomusicology with specific reference to the musical traditions of Wales. Although some academic studies referencing Welsh choral singing in the relevant period (1872–1918) have emerged, the relationship between music and gender remains particularly underexplored. Here, I will present an overview of the relevant literature beginning with general sources in Welsh music before discussing pertinent developments in ethnomusicology.

On Welsh Music

Although Wales has gained a reputation for being a ‘land of song’ in particular, and has nurtured in its people a love of, and skill in, musical performance in general, critical studies examining the relationship between music and the people of Wales have been disproportionately low. What could be termed ‘standard’ literature on music in Wales appeared first in the mid-twentieth century with the publication in 1948 of Impressions of Music in Wales by J. Sutcliffe Smith and Music

in Wales edited by Peter Crossley-Holland. As the title of the first suggests it was concerned

primarily with the description of musical practices occurring in Wales at this time. Sutcliffe

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Smith, a Doctor of Music who is titled as an ‘impartial observer’ in the book’s foreword (written by D. E. Parry Williams, the musical director of Bangor University College), had previously published accounts of music in Yorkshire (1928) and Birmingham (1945). Here, his publication (which is structured as a series of letters to a Keith Conyers, Esq. of Yorkshire), is based upon available literature, experiences gained through travel and the results of interviews with

participants.

Both Sutcliffe Smith’s account of music in Wales and the edited collection by Peter Crossley-Holland seem to have been written with a similar audience in mind. Reinforcing the idea that little is known about Welsh music, or indeed the cultural traditions surrounding it in Wales, both expressed the advantage that such studies would make in terms of understanding in England; the comparison with Fishlock is undeniably evident here, although the studies

discussed preceded the Fishlock publication by 24 years. In particular, Sutcliffe Smith stated that the aim of his impressions was ‘to [give or help] Englishmen and others who shall read them [a] better understanding as to the reasons for the apparent backwardness of Welsh music in certain directions, and at the same time to [show] that the Welsh people are intensely musical with a long ancestry of poetry and song’.42 _{However, he does not divulge any further information on}

what the ‘apparent backwardness’ of Welsh music may be.

On first inspection, Peter Crossley-Holland’s edited collection on Music in Wales appears to present a more factual approach to the subject, with chapters on musical instruments, the Welsh Folk-Song Society, the National Eisteddfod, music and education (in schools and in universities) and the relationship between music and religion in Wales, amongst others.

However, it is clear that the motive once more is driven by a desire to provide a publication that will serve the needs of Englishmen; the initial paragraph of Crossley-Holland’s preface states that ‘the majority of Englishmen know little or nothing of musical life in Wales. [...] The present work

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seeks to provide a general introduction’.43 _{He explains his position further by highlighting the}

fact that a book devoted entirely to Welsh music had not previously existed, and interestingly, that focussed studies which had been published in Welsh were ‘denied to the average English reader’.44 _{While Crossley-Holland raises an important point about language here, he fails to make}

the distinction between English-speaking Welsh people and the English.

Choral singing, in particular, is discussed in two chapters of Crossley-Holland’s

publication. Here, the developments in the tradition are detailed in chronological order from the mid-nineteenth century to the time of writing; pertinent topics include the rise of nonconformity, the eisteddfod (pl. eisteddfodau) (a secular, competitive festival of music and poetry), the gymanfa ganu (a psalmody festival), the rise of choral singing in Welsh schools and universities and musical funding for choirs and eisteddfodau. Despite the objective tone of this edited volume, a subjective register is proffered by a contributing author, the educator and conductor W. R. Allen (1891– 1956).45 _{Here, Allen states that ‘Wales must take her singing more seriously, and not rest on her}

laurels, if her choral tradition is to be maintained’.46 _{Although this argument is placed within the}

framework of a historical account of Welsh music, Allen’s remarks offer clues about how choral practice was being performed in the mid-twentieth century. For example, he complains that choristers in Cardiganshire had become musically illiterate. He also bemoaned the emphasis upon popular numbers rather than Welsh repertoire during the competitive sections of the eisteddfod, the author advocating the promotion of Welsh composers in this context. Nevertheless, Allen confirms that choral singing was popular at the time of writing and he provides a list of 105 active choirs (mixed, male and female) throughout Wales.

43 _{Peter Crossley-Holland, ‘Preface’ in Peter Crossley-Holland (ed.), Music in Wales (London: Hinrichsen, 1948), p.iii.} 44 _Ibid.

45 _{W. R. Allen was the conductor of the University College Choral Society in Aberystwyth.}

46 _{W. R. Allen, ‘The Choral Tradition’, in Peter Crossley-Holland (ed.), p.37. Here, the gendering of the nation as}

feminine is noteworthy; Wales is often described as female. Barra Boydell has made a similar observation with respect to Ireland. Exploring the iconography of the harp, Boydell significantly notes that the harp – once considered a masculine instrument – became feminine during the eighteenth century. For Boydell, the ‘winged- maiden’ harp came to represent the subjugation of Ireland, a masculine nation rendered feminine through colonisation and subjugation. See Barra Boydell, ‘The Iconography of the Irish Harp as a National Symbol’, in Patrick F. Devine and Harry White (eds), The Maynooth International Musicological Conference 1995: Selected Proceedings Part

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Although the studies mentioned are noteworthy for their introductory coverage, the first scholarly studies of music on Wales did not appear until the millennial decade. For example, Sally Harper’s monograph on Music in Welsh Culture Before 1650 (2007) is particularly significant since it aims to dispel a popular misconception that ‘too little material survives to enable coherent study’ of music in Wales before 1650, and that ‘obscure’ surviving sources are ‘unworthy of serious scholarly attention’.47 _{Invoking an ethnographic approach to explore historical sources, Harper}

attempts to make sense of anthropological issues (such as oral transmission, musical

enculturation and literate representation) as they relate to the historical record. Interestingly, Harper does not anticipate (historical) ethnomusicologists to feature within her expected readership.

In terms of the musical practices discussed, Harper’s focus is fixed predominantly on instrumental practices. Here, she provides an in-depth analysis not only of cerdd dant (English, ‘the craft of the string’) in general, a genre played on the harp and the crwth (a bowed lute), but also of specific written sources related to the tradition, such as the seventeenth-century harp manuscript created by Robert ap Huw of Anglesey as an act of ‘retrospective preservation’.48

However, Harper is principally concerned with instrumental music during the Medieval period. As such, her study complements (but does not replicate) information presented in this thesis. That being said, Harper does consider (in the later chapters 20 and 21) congregational singing in Wales during the post-Reformation period, especially with respect to questions that concern the use of the Welsh language in liturgical publications. Since choral singing in Wales expanded rapidly during the nineteenth-century, Harper’s work provides an important precedent and a significant framework for discussing music and religion (see Chapter 2).

47 _{Sally Harper, Music in Welsh Culture Before 1650: A Study of the Principal Sources (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007), p.1. For a}

more detailed discussion of this important publication, see Rachelle Barlow, Review of Music in Welsh Culture Before

1650: A Study of the Principal Sources, by Sally Harper, Ethnomusicology, 55/3 (2011), pp.511–516.

48 _{For further information about the Robert ap Huw manuscript and other Welsh harp tablature, see Harper (2007),}

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Phyllis Kinney has more recently written a scholarly study of traditional music in Wales. Entitled Welsh Traditional Music, Kinney contributes to equivalent studies on traditional musics in neighbouring Celtic traditions (such as Ireland and Scotland) which were written much earlier. It is surprising therefore that a comprehensive publication on traditional music in Wales did not exist before 2011 (the date of Kinney’s monograph). Here, it is interesting to consider a personal note. Kinney is an American-born singer who moved to Wales to settle down with her husband, the now late Dr. Meredydd Evans, a Welsh singer, researcher, language activist and lifetime conscientious objector. Kinney developed an interest in Welsh folksong when she was shown the aforementioned collection by Brinley Richards (The Songs of Wales) by a Welsh college professor working in Michigan State University. Upon further investigation, Kinney soon realised that little had been written in English on the general topic of Welsh traditional music since it required proficiency in the Welsh language, a skill that was not readily possessed by many musicologists. At the time, this proficiency also eluded Kinney, although she has since become fluent.

Utilising primary materials in the Welsh language, the scope of Kinney’s important monograph ranges from music performed in the Medieval period to music performed in the twentieth century. However, her discussion (or lack thereof) of gender, is of most interest to the present study. In particular, Kinney documents a Christmas morning plygain49 _{service in which}

carols were performed as solos, duets, trios or by small groups of the congregation. Although Kinney notes that such singing was ‘not entirely a male prerogative’, the elevated popularity of the male trio (with the melody sung in the middle part) is highlighted but not interrogated.50

Further, she evades a discussion of gender in her consideration of carol texts with ‘feminine

49 _{There is no literal English translation for the word plygain, although it derives from the Latin pulli cantus or ‘cock}

crow’ since the services were typically held between three and six o’clock on Christmas morning. For further information on plygain and the carolling tradition in Wales, see Kinney, ‘Carols, Ballads and the Anterliwt’, in Kinney,