Wednesday 25 January 2012

A Love Story for Santes Dwynwen's Day.( The Welsh St Valentines Day)

This is the true story of  how love conquers all... but only if you're prepared to be very patient.

Bronwen and Dai were born around the time of the First World War to farming families in the parish of Llanboidy in west Carmarthenshire. Bronwen was a distant cousin of my Mother's and it is she who told me this story.

Bronwen  came from a progressive farming family that believed in giving their daughters every opportunity in life. They were a large family and Bronwen was considered the "beauty"  but not the most academic. Nevertheless, she was sent away to a good school to further her education and experiences but decided after she finished her education to stay on the farm to help her mother run the busy household.

Dai was a farmer's son from Pencwnc Farm, Llanboidy. Dai was also good looking with an open happy face that matched his mild good nature.

When Bronwen and Dai meet there was an instant attraction and to no one's surprise they fell in love. An engagement soon followed and Bronwen excitedly prepared herself for a life as a farmer's wife at Pencnwc Farm.

But there were two major difficulties to overcome  - Dai's sister and Dai's soft heart.

Dai's parents had now passed away but Dai's sister lived on the farm with Dai. She had no interest in the farm, no interest in marrying and no interest in sharing the house with another woman. She refused point blank to accept Bronwen as a sister in law.

It may seem odd to us looking at things from today's perceptive that Dai would have tolerated his sister's attitude but she had every right to stay on the farm and the farm was Dai's liveihood. If he moved away he would have had nothing. He was also the type of man who wouldnt throw his weight around - he wanted everyone to be happy.

Bronwen was also a very mild mannered person but after the situation had dragged on for almost 20 YEARS, she finally decided enough was enough and announced she was emigrating to America. This wasn't an idle threat, within a couple of months she had sailed the Atlantic to live and work with relatives in the US.

This left Dai completely heart broken but at last galvanised him into action. For the first time in his life he asked his neighbours for help. He arranged for them to look after the farm while he sailed over to America to plead and beg his fiancee to come back home with him. It was unheard  for a farmer to spend more than a day away from the farm at this time and he was the talk of the district. He also took out a loan to enable him to build an extension on the farmhouse as separate accommodation for his sister. She didnt like it at all but Dai was insistent.

This belated plan of action worked and Bronwen returned to Wales to be married and to live out her days at Pencnwc. Sadly, they married too late in life to have children.

I visited the farm in the 1970s with my family and had a wonderful meal with the hospitable Bronwen and Dai. I never saw Dai's sister - she stayed in her part of the house, curtains closed.

Legend has it that she spent her time playing Patience.

Pencnwc Farm is only a couple of miles away from Cefnmeurig Cottage. and was the home of my great great grandparents.

No comments:

Post a Comment