: Amgueddfeydd, Arddangosfeydd a Digwyddiadau

As part of the redevelopment project at St.Fagans National History Museum, we wish to open our doors to volunteers and invite them to work alongside the Preventive Conservation team, helping to care for the collections on open display in the historic houses. There are hundreds of objects on display ranging from furniture, textiles, pottery and agricultural equipment. Providing plenty of opportunities to share a skill or learn something new.

Caring for this site is no mean feat, we currently have 26 furnished properties including a castle. Plus there are 4 new buildings on the way, including a medieval hall and the Vulcan pub! So plenty to keep us busy. The Museum is also open throughout the year and can have up to 700,000 visitors during that time, which means we are kept on our toes making sure everything continues to look good, day in and day out.

This work is a combined effort, involving staff from many different sections, which often goes on behind the scenes unnoticed by visitors. However, we wish to change this and provide opportunities for volunteers to assist us, not only in the care of objects, but also contribute to interpretation and help inform the public.

We are currently refurbishing one of the cottages on site, aiming to provide a comfortable and creative work space for our new collection care volunteers. We hope to start recruiting in May so if you're interested, I'll be posting more updates as the project continues to progress.

We’re in the process of preparing objects to go on display in the new galleries that are being built on the site of St Fagans.  #makinghistory  

As the textile conservator, I have come across three objects that, though they are kept in the textile store, are not exclusively made of textile but have paper components and have botanical specimens attached, neither of which come under my area of expertise.  Hence, I’ve roped in my two colleagues, the  Senior Conservator Archives and the Senior Conservator Natural Sciences and the three of us will now jointly treat these objects. 

Joint projects are always a great opportunity for sharing skills and learning from colleagues so we’re all really looking forward to this!

·         Ar hyn o bryd mae gennym tua 100 o ddefaid magu felly rydyn ni’n disgwyl dros 150 o wyn.

·         Mae’n defaid ni’n ddwyflwydd oed yn wyna am y tro cyntaf.

·         Mae dafad yn feichiog am 5 mis:

• maen nhw’n dod i’w tymor ym mis Medi
• rydyn ni’n rhoi’r hyrddod mewn gyda’r defaid ar 1 Hydref
• bydd cyfnod wyna yn cychwyn ddechrau mis Mawrth
• ni sy’n dewis y drefn yma er mwyn cael wyn i’w gweld yn y caeau dros y Pasg.

·         Mae’r defaid beichiog yn dod mewn o’r caeau’n syth ar ôl y Nadolig er mwyn cael lloches, bwyd a gofal ychwanegol. Mae hyn yn bwysig ar gyfer datblygiad yr wyn.

·         Maen nhw’n cael eu sganio yn y flwyddyn newydd er mwyn eu gwahanu i ddau grwp:

• y rhai sy’n disgwyl oen sengl
• a’r lleill sy’n disgwyl gefeilliaid neu dripledi.

·         Pen a choesau blaen yn arwain ydy’r ffordd arferol i oen gael ei eni. Os felly, mae’r defaid fel arfer yn gallu ymdopi heb unrhyw gymorth. Ond weithiau bydd angen ychydig o help os yw’r oen yn fawr, neu’n dod allan am yn ôl.

·         Wedi bwrw, bydd y ddafad a’i hwyn yn mynd mewn i gorlan ar wahân:

•  er mwyn sefydlu perthynas famol
•  i atal defaid heb eu bwrw rhag ‘mabwysiadu/dwyn’ oen dafad arall.

·         Maen nhw’n aros ar wahân am 1–2 diwrnod.

·         Mae defaid a’u hwyn sy’n iach yn cael mynd allan i’r caeau ar ôl 3–5 diwrnod – os yw’r tywydd yn caniatáu.

·         Mae’n beth arferol i weld rhywfaint o waed a slwtsh o gwmpas pen ôl dafad sydd wedi bwrw yn ddiweddar.

·         Mae’n beth arferol i wyn newydd gysgu llawer – rhyw 12–16 awr y dydd.

·         Bydd y rhan fwyaf o’r wyn benywaidd yn aros gyda ni neu’n cael eu gwerthu fel defaid pedigri. Bydd yr wyn gwrywaidd yn mynd i’r lladd-dy am eu cig, gyda chwpl o’r goreuon yn cael eu gwerthu fel hyrddod.

·         Mae’r cig oen ar eich plât yn 4–12 mis oed.

Wyna yw un o amseroedd pwysicaf a phrysuraf y flwyddyn ar y fferm. Mae’n golygu oriau hir, ddydd a nos, yn gwylio dros, ac yn gofalu am y defaid, i wneud yn siwr bod eu ŵyn yn cyrraedd yn ddiogel ac yn goroesi yn y diwrnodau cyntaf. Mae ŵyn yn ffynhonnell bwysig o arian oherwydd gellir eu gwerthu ar gyfer eu cig, ac ar gyfer stoc newydd i’r ddiadell.

Mae cadw defaid yn rhan sylweddol o amaethyddiaeth yng Nghymru oherwydd eu bod yn gallu ymdopi yn dda â’r ucheldir, yr hinsawdd gwlyb ac â thir gwael. Gall defaid oroesi a ffynnu ar laswellt tiroedd uchel ac isel Cymru. Gellir cynhyrchu gwlân, cig, llaeth, crwyn a gwêr ar gyfer canhwyllau o ddefaid, a gellir defnyddio eu tail i wrteithio’r tir.

Mae’n debygol mai defaid bach, brown Soay oedd y defaid cyntaf yng Nghymru. Daethant yma gyda ffermwyr Neolithic tua 6 mil o flynyddoedd yn ôl. Daeth y Rhufeiniad â defaid o safon uwch, gyda gwynebau gwyn a gwlân main. Cadwyd y defaid ar gyfer eu gwlân yn unig. Roedd gan ffermwyr Rhufeinig enw da am gynhyrchu gwlân o safon. Trwy groesi y defaid gwyneb gwyn gyda’r defaid Soay cynhyrchwyd defaid â gwyneb brown golau, hynafiaid y defaid Cymreig gwydn sydd wedi byw ar ucheldiroedd Cymru ers dros ddwy fil o flynyddoedd.

Erbyn y Canol Oesoedd mae’n debyg bod defaid yn cael eu cadw ar gyfer eu gwlân a’u llaeth yn hytrach na’u cig. Bu gwlân yn goruchafu tan y Chwyldro Diwydiannol ond o ganlyniad i’r tŵf yn y boblogaeth yn y ddeunawfed ganrif cynyddodd y galw am gig.

Cig oedd prif gynnyrch defaid ac ŵyn yn yr ugeinfed ganrif, yn gwerthu am llawer mwy o arian na gwlân. Heddiw, cynhyrchu ŵyn tewion yw prif incwm llawer o ffermydd Cymru. Yn 2013 roedd allforion cig oen Cymreig werth £154.7 miliwn. Y cwsmer tramor mwyaf yw Ffrainc, ac yna’r Almaen. Roedd 9.74 miliwn o ddefaid ac ŵyn yng Nghymru yn 2014.

On this day in 1917, Brinley Rhys Edmunds, an 18 year old groom from Barry, joined the army – one teenager among the 272,924 Welshmen who served during the First World War.

At the time, Brinley was living with his parents – Evan Edmunds and his Norwegian wife, Christine Sofia – at 7 Dunraven Street, a stone’s throw from the hustle and bustle of Barry Docks. On the 1911 census, his father’s occupation is listed as Railway Engine Driver. From the census, we also learn that he, along with two of his four siblings, was a Welsh speaker.  

Brinley’s Record of Service Paper – the form he completed at a Cardiff recruiting office on 26 February 1917 – shows that he was initially assigned to the 59th Training Reserve Battalion. As you can see, the recruiting officer mistakenly noted his name as Brindley, rather than Brinley – an error replicated in all subsequent military records. The Service Paper reveals an intriguing twist to Brinley’s story. It appears that he had enlisted once before, with the 18th Battalion The Welsh Regiment, but was discharged for being underage:

Have you ever served in any branch of His Majesty’s Forces, naval or military? If so, which?

Yes 18 Welch Discharged under age 16-11-15

By my calculations, Brinley was born in November 1898, therefore he would have been 17 years old, or thereabouts, when he was discharged from the 18th Battalion. He probably joined-up at the age of 16, but I have been unable to trace any online documents relating to his time as an underage teenage tommy.

Frustrations aside, we’re fortunate to have several objects in the collection which were donated to the Museum by Brinley’s family in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They are among the most powerful and poignant of all the First World War collections in our care. Although undated, the postcard shown here was almost certainly written by Brinley when he served with The Welsh Regiment. In July 1915, the 18th Battalion moved to Prees Heath training camp in Shropshire. This novelty postcard, addressed to Brinley’s parents, includes a set of pull-out images of the camp.

In addition to the postcard, we also have a beautiful pincushion made by Brinley as a gift for his mother. The centre features the insignia of The Welsh Regiment and the motto Gwell Angau na Chywilydd (Better Death than Dishonour). We don’t know where or why Brinley made this pincushion, but it’s possible that he was given the material and beads in kit format to alleviate boredom or to focus his mind.

We recently showed the pincushion and postcard to children whose parents are serving in the Armed Forces today. Both objects will be displayed in the redeveloped galleries here at St Fagans, alongside contemporary responses generated through partnership work with the Armed Forces Community Covenant Grant Scheme. When asked to consider why Brinley may have made this pincushion for his mother, one young girl suggested it was his way of saying ‘I’m alive, don’t worry.’

Brinley Rhys Edmunds died on 5 September 1918 while serving with the Durham Light Infantry, a matter of weeks before the armistice and his twentieth birthday. He is buried at the Berlin South-Western Cemetery in Germany. With no grave to visit at home, his family preserved and displayed the pincushion under a glass dome. Like all families who lost a relative in the line of duty, Brinley’s parents received a bronze memorial plaque in recognition of his service, inscribed HE DIED FOR FREEDOM AND HONOUR BRINDLEY RYHS EDMUNDS – the error made by the Cardiff recruiting officer compounded by the misspelling of his middle name, Rhys.

Remember, you can now access the Museum's First World War collections online. We'd love to hear from you if you have further information about Brinley Edmunds, or any other person or family represented in the collections.