Striving for a world transformed by justice and peace - a TL from 1827

A book of poems in Welsh by Aneurin Griffiths, with the title in English translation of A Tribute to My Beloved Brother, Ifor was published on 13 April 1877 by the same Swansea publishing house which had published his other poems. It was published eleven years, less one day, after Ifor was brutally murdered while unsuccessfully defending his mother Angharad from being raped on 14 April 1866. He was thirteen years old. The poems are in the Cywydd style of Welsh poetry. [1]

The poems are elegaic, passionate, visceral, angry and eloquent. Aneurin writes about he and his brother growing up in Llanelli, about them playing together and exploring the countryside.

[1] See http://thanetwriters.com/essay/form/what-is-a-cywydd.
 
In the poem 14th April 1866 in A Tribute to My Beloved Brother, Ifor, Nye Griffiths names Daniel Williams as his brother's murderer. There is the repeated refrain of the words llofrudd [murderer] and llofruddwyd [murdered]. In other poems Griffiths describes seeing his brother's dead body and his funeral. In maddeuant [forgiveness] he explores if he can ever forgive Williams and concludes that there can be no forgiveness without sincere repentance. Five Years is a cry of anger at the injustice of only five years with hard labour to which the judge sentenced Williams for the manslaughter of Ifor Griffiths. The book was a huge success in Wales, though being in Welsh its readership was limited.
 
The English language edition of A Tribute to My Beloved Brother, Ifor was published by Macmillan and Co on 24 May 1877. It had good reviews. The poems in the book have become anthologised and are a favourite at funerals, particularly of murder victims.

On 16 October 1876 Nia Price gave birth to a boy. She and her husband, Thomas, named him Gwynfor. He was their fourth child and third son.
 
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On 24 August 1876, Maire Griffiths gave birth to a daughter. She and Nye named her Orla and was their fourth child and third daughter. Siobhan, Sean, Brid and Mairead, aged seventeen, fifteen, thirteen and ten respectively in May 1877, Maire's four youngest O'Brien siblings, were still living with her and Nye and their four young children in a four bedroom council house in Swansea. Maire and Nye's four children were David, Eithne, Roisin and Orla aged five, three, two years and nine months respectively at the end of May 1877.
 
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Maire, Nye, Roisin and Orla shared one bedroom, Siobhan and Brid another bedroom, Sean and David were in the third bedroom, while the fourth bedroom was for Mairead and Eithne. Sean felt out of place in a feminist household dominated by women.

Siobhan O'Brien was blossoming out into a sexually attractive young woman. She worked in a Good To Wear [GTW] workers' co-operative shop in Swansea. There was equal pay for men and women in the GTW factories and shops. She was very keen on politics and active in Young Commonwealth, for Commonwealth Party members aged seventeen to twenty-four.

Maire was assisted at the birth of Orla by her friend, Mrs Elizabeth Kelly, who was the womb-woman or midwife. When Orla was born, Mrs Kelly gave her birth baptism, as she had given Maire's three other children, saying the following words:

A small drop of water
To thy forehead, beloved,
Meet for Father, Son and Spirit,
The Triune of power.

A small drop of water
To encompass my beloved,
Meet for Father, Son and Spirit,
The Triune of power.

A small drop of water
To fill thee with each grace,
Meet for Father, Son and Spirit
The Triune of Power.
 
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Siobhan O'Brien's other passion besides politics was singing. She sang Irish and Welsh folk songs, and political ballads in clubs and pubs. Brid was thirteen years old and worked as a seamstress at a Good to Wear factory in Swansea. She wanted to get married and have lots of children, though she did not have a boyfriend. Mairead, the youngest O'Brien girl, was still at school.

The Agricultural Subsidies Act 1877 gave financial support to British and Irish farmers who suffered financial loss because of imports of cheap wheat from the United States and Keewatin. It was steered through the House of Commons by the President of the Board of Agriculture, James Banks. He was a farm worker before he was elected to Parliament. The Commonwealth government chose to support farmers in this way rather than by tariffs on wheat imports which would have made bread more expensive.
 
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Sean O'Brien worked as a clerk in a shipping company in Swansea. He had joined the Conservative Party which made him an outsider in the Griffiths/O'Brien household. He claimed that the Commonwealth Party government was ruining the country with its economic and social welfare policies, and that Ireland should not have Home Rule. He was also against the political and economic advance of women. Siobhan called him Tory scum and a traitor to his class and his nation. Though Maire told her to take those words back.
 
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was an independent state with Francis II as its king. [1] During his reign the Kingdom developed economically and technologically.

In the War of the Triple Alliance in which Paraguay fought against an alliance of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, Francisco Solano Lopez, the Paraguayan dictator, was killed at the battle of Curuzo on 3 September 1866. [2] Later that month the Paraguayan government signed a peace treaty with the nations of the Triple Alliance. Because the war in this TL was about three and a half years shorter than in OTL it was much less disastrous for Paraguay in terms of loss of life. But Paraguay was still obliged to agree to the terms of the Treaty of the Triple Alliance. [3]

[1] For Francis II see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_II_of_the_Two_Sicilies.

[2] For the battle of Curuzo see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Curuzu.

[3] For the Treaty see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_the_Triple_Alliance,
 
In this TL the Sokoto Caliphate has absorbed Bornu. [1]

The British government strongly objected to the Argentinian conquest of Patagonia. [2] The Commonwealth Party believed in preserving the independence of the indigenous tribes and of the Welsh colony in Patagonia. [3]

[1] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokoto_Caliphate and map here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokoto_Caliphate#/media/File:Sokoto_caliphate.png

[2] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conquest_of_the_Desert

[3] The Welsh colony was as in OTL. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y_Wladfa.
 
Ferryside, Caitlin Kelly
Caitlin Kelly [Maire's eldest sister] gave birth to a girl on 12 August 1876. She and her husband, Stephen, named her Gwyneth. They were both very pleased with the new addition to the family.

One night in early June 1877, in bed after they had made love, Aneurin suggested to Maire that they rent a house in Glan-y-fferi [Ferryside] further along the coast. [1] He said it was a beautiful village. He had seen an advertisement in the Cambrian Daily News for a four bedroomed house there. It would be good for our children to live in the country. There are several trains a day each way between there and Swansea, and the fastest trains take about an hour each way.

[1] For Ferryside see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferryside
 
Ferryside
'Do you want us to move to Ferryside, or stay here and rent the house you told me about for weekends and holidays?' Maire asked Nye.

'We can't afford two houses, so I would like us to move to Ferryside.' Nye said.

'We can't expect Siobhan and Sean and Brid to travel on the train to Swansea from Ferryside for their work six days a week. So they'll have to stay in Swansea.'

'It will do them good to live away from home. We can find lodgings in a good Catholic families for Siobhan and Brighid, and for Sean. It will be good for him and Siobhan to live apart. They don't get on together.'

'How much is the rent on the Ferryside house?' Maire asked.

'Eleven shillings a week'.

'That's a lot of money.

'It is. But it's a four bedroom semi detached house with a view of the River Tywi. It has a living room, kitchen, bathroom, toilet and front and back gardens. Nye explained.
 
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Train times
'If we move to Ferryside, will you be keeping your job?' Maire asked Nye.

'I will.' he replied.

'What are the times of the trains from Ferryside to Swansea and back?'

'Wait a minute,' Nye said and went to get his notebook.

When he came back he showed Maire the page with the train times.

'So' she said, 'the first train from Ferryside is about twenty to eight in the morning and gets to Swansea at five to nine. The next one is about ten to nine and that gets to Swansea at ten past ten. In the afternoon, the ten to five from Swansea arrives in Ferryside at five to six, and the last train leaves Swansea at about five to nine and gets to Ferryside at about five past ten. [1]
So you will have to leave home for work early to get there on time, and leave from work early or wait and get the last train home.'

'I don't mind leaving for work early at about half past seven and I'll ask my boss if I can leave work a little early.' Nye said.

[1] Train times taken from Bradshaw's August 1887 Railway Guide, David & Charles Reprints, Newton Abbot, Devon: David & Charles (Publishers) Ltd, 1968. I expect the train times would have been roughly the same as in 1877.
 
Ferryside
'Nye dearest,' Maire said, I don't want to leave here and move to Ferryside. This is my community here in Swansea. Caitlin and Stephen and Gwyneth live in this town and also my friends. But because I love you with all my heart and soul I will move with you to that house in Ferryside you told me about. I'll ask Mrs Kelly if she would like Siobhan and Brid to lodge with her, and I'll find somewhere for Sean to live.

'Thank you so very much, my love. I 'm sure you will love it there. It is beautiful there with the River Tywi. A few miles to the south-west there are the Pendine Sands which go on for miles and miles.' [1] Nye said.

Maire and Nye talked a bit more, cuddled and kissed and made love again.

[1] For Pendine Sands see http://beachguide.wales/swalessomerset/pendine.php
 
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