Where there's a Will...

I've accumulated dozens of papers over the last few years, mostly wills from Llangynin and neighbouring parishes. These are fascinating documents as they give us a glimpse into rural life in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Two things have struck me:

1) Bad handwriting and bad spelling are not modern phenomena;
2) How few possessions our ancestors had.

For example, according to her will, Catherine Morris of the parish of Llangynin had the following possessions in 1687:
Two cows
Two heifers
15 sheep
8 lambs
One pig
One boar
Three old blankets and some old bedding
One little brass pot
One baking stone
One stand, one old chest

There are a few other bits and pieces I can't decipher but there does not appear to be a bed listed. Catherine probably piled her old bedding on top of a wooden pallet type structure every night. She would have spent virtually every daylight hour out of doors, which was just as well as the house would have been horrendously smoky from the fire. There may not even have been a chimney, the smoke given the freedom to find its own way out, via Catherine's lungs, no doubt.

The diet probably would have been reasonable with milk, meat, butter and vegetables  in good supply depending on the time of year...and Welsh Cakes cooked on the bake stone of course! There are plenty of springs in the parish but many are high in iron oxide which wouldnt have been pleasant to drink and would have the added disadvantage of turning your hair green! High concentrations of iron can cause high blood pressure and kidney problems too.  

In case I've put you off staying in the parish - modern UV filtration removes the iron from the water and I've never seen anyone with green hair within 5 miles of Cefnmeurig Cottage.