Rape of the Fair Country

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I live in Newport, and although this story is fiction it has a basis in the areas history, which makes it very interesting to me, but it is a great story for anyone, it is earthy and has humour, romance and gives an alternative view re the conditions suffered by the workers For it is greed you are discussing not politics. And until greed is taken from the hearts of men you will always have masters and poor, and which way round it is matters little" The failure of the works (in 1919) was a devastating blow to the local community, as it had depended heavily on the works for its economic livelihood.”

There were elements I did enjoy in the latter half of the book. The book does well to capture the community control of the Scotch Cattle and the excitement surrounding the growing Chartist movement. Zephaniah Williams and John Frost were and are giants of the working class campaign for universal (male) suffrage, political transparency and fairness for all. Industrially it was volatile moment in Welsh history and radical politics and protest came to the fore against shameful exploitation and destruction, there were even whispers of a Welsh Republic. From the brightly lit foyer to every seat in the stalls, a buzz of expectation hovered over the theatre-goers who turned up to see Rape of the Fair Country which opened at the New Theatre, Cardiff this month. Rarely have midweek performances drawn audiences of this size and it was clear that expectations were running high for this re-run of Manon Eames’ adaptation of Alexander Cordell’s novel.Have you seen the iron of Cyfarthfa, then?” he asked, struggling up. “Have you even heard of Merthyr, that is dying under Crawshay? Have you heard of Crawshay, even?”

Although there are flaws in this book - the place of the Welsh language in the narrative, and the inaccurate use of "Wenglish", the portrayal of women, and many of the historical details, this is nevertheless a powerful, powerful story. It is about the rise of Chartism in the south est Wales valleys in the early 19th century, seen through the eyes of young steelworker, Iestyn Mortimer. The shift in the piece takes place through his father's changing attitudes - at first, loyal to the owner's, but slowly seeing the inequalities perpetrated by the wealthy landowners, he shifts his perspective. Two of the women in the story – Iestyn’s sister Morfydd and the girl he eventually marries, Mari Dirion– work in the mines crawling on all fours dragging coal tubs. When Mari become pregnant she stays in the job, and Morfydd observes:When we refer to William Crawshay of Merthyr Tydfil we allude to a man who has done more for Glamorganshire, and perhaps for South Wales, than any other living individual. He was one of the few remarkable men who can give a character to a country and a tone to an age. In the extent of his speculations and unbounded enterprise, we cannot name another Cambrian who has done so much and so well or the Principality of Wales.” This seems to have come from The Crawshay’s of Cyfarthfa Castle, by Margaret Stewart Taylor. The other source referred to is The History of the Iron, Steel, Tinplate and other Trades of Wales, by Charles Wilkins 1903. The whole book is an emotional journey! I was pleased and relieved when life and relationships went well for the Mortymer family, annoyed by some of the pig-headed opinions inflicted on it from within and without, and saddened by the people who were lost along the way My mum suggested this book to me after I watched the episode of the crown that surrounded the Aberfan disaster. My grandfather was Welsh, and my great grandparents came to Canada because the working conditions in Wales were so atrocious.

From the belly of my mother,” I said, talking the old language to please him. “She was born in Cyfarthfa long before Bacon puddled a furnace.”

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Cordell is at pains to point out through the mouths of his Chartist characters that the appalling conditions the workers endured were not confined to South Wales. He is not, however, interested in giving a social or economic overview, but simply in portraying the price paid by the people of Wales. This short passage, for me, was the most moving: