#the merthyr rising

[mybeingthere]

Once upon a time in 1885, Welsh singer, songwriter, scientist, and philanthropist Margaret Watts Hughes accidentally invented a method of turning her voice into images.

Hughes explained her invention, the eidophone, and her image-making process in an article for Century Magazine in 1891:

"In 1885, while seeking means to indicate readily the intensities of vocal sounds, I first met with these [voice] figures, and, owing to their variety both in form and production, they have since absorbed much of my attention. The apparatus I have employed I call the eidophone. This is very simple. It consists merely of an elastic membrane, such as thoroughly flexible soft sheet-rubber, tightly stretched over the mouth of a receiver of any form, into which receiver the voice is introduced by a wide-mouthed tube of convenient shape. In some cases the receiver may be dispensed with, and the membrane be stretched across the open end of the tube itself.

My first experiments were made with sand, lycopodium powder, or the two substances mixed. I then tried for the production of voice-figures, flooding the disk of the eidophone with a thin layer of liquid ; e.g. water or milk. Upon singing notes of suitable pitch through the tube, not too forcibly, beautiful crispations appear upon the surface of the liquid, which vary with every change of tone. A note sung too forcibly causes the liquid to rise in, a shower of spray, the movements of which are too rapid to be readily followed by the eye. To facilitate observation denser liquids may be used. By using such liquids as colored glycerin particularly beautiful effects may be obtained. Subsequently I found that by employing moistened powder of different consistencies yet another description of figures appears. The earliest result of my experiments in this material shows centers of motion from which radiations diverge."

By varying the sound of her voice and the materials and methods used to capture it, different patterns emerged.

If we dig a bit deeper into the process, we find greater complexity. Sophie B. Herrick did just that in Visible Sound – Comment [Century Magazine 42, 40 (1891)]:

These voice-flowers are not the simple visual forms corresponding with the vibrations of the air set in motion by the voice. The waves generated in the closed bowl of the eidophone are reflected again and again from the sides of the vessel. The volume of air inclosed has its own rate of vibration; the stretched membrane has also its own rate, which in turn is modified by the character and thickness of the paste spread upon it. Added to these are molecular forces of cohesion and adhesion between the particles of paste, and again between the paste and the membrane. The form which grows into shape is the resultant of all these complicated forces, and, in some instances, new elements of change have been added. A glass plate is placed on top of the vibrating membrane and moved over it. We have a new body introduced with its proper rate of vibration, besides a mechanical motion further to complicate the problem.

According to an article in MIT’s The Net Advance of Physics Weblog, Hughes’ “flower-like forms” were rediscovered in the 1960s by Swiss researcher Hans Jenny, who went on to coin the term cymatics to describe acoustic effects of sound wave phenomena. However it appears as if Jenny was only familiar with the black and white reproductions of Hughes works as published in her Century article.

The larger color works were thought to be lost(!) but were found in 2016 by the staff of the Cyfarthfa Castle Museum, located in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, while digging through their archives. Taken as a whole, Hughes’ work has a foot in two camps —as part of the history and study of the physics of sound, and as part of the history of art. These works were displayed as such during her lifetime.

One can imagine that the Surrealists would have been quite taken with these voice-figures, automatism sans hands, and I find them quite beautiful and striking as works of visual art that do not fit the tidy androcentric narrative of history, art or otherwise (see Hilma af Klint for a similarly jarring example).

[innervoiceart]

Once upon a time in 1885, Welsh singer, songwriter, scientist, and philanthropist Margaret Watts Hughes accidentally invented a method of turning her voice into images.

Hughes explained her invention, the eidophone, and her image-making process in an article for Century Magazine in 1891:

"In 1885, while seeking means to indicate readily the intensities of vocal sounds, I first met with these [voice] figures, and, owing to their variety both in form and production, they have since absorbed much of my attention. The apparatus I have employed I call the eidophone. This is very simple. It consists merely of an elastic membrane, such as thoroughly flexible soft sheet-rubber, tightly stretched over the mouth of a receiver of any form, into which receiver the voice is introduced by a wide-mouthed tube of convenient shape. In some cases the receiver may be dispensed with, and the membrane be stretched across the open end of the tube itself.

My first experiments were made with sand, lycopodium powder, or the two substances mixed. I then tried for the production of voice-figures, flooding the disk of the eidophone with a thin layer of liquid ; e.g. water or milk. Upon singing notes of suitable pitch through the tube, not too forcibly, beautiful crispations appear upon the surface of the liquid, which vary with every change of tone. A note sung too forcibly causes the liquid to rise in, a shower of spray, the movements of which are too rapid to be readily followed by the eye. To facilitate observation denser liquids may be used. By using such liquids as colored glycerin particularly beautiful effects may be obtained. Subsequently I found that by employing moistened powder of different consistencies yet another description of figures appears. The earliest result of my experiments in this material shows centers of motion from which radiations diverge."

By varying the sound of her voice and the materials and methods used to capture it, different patterns emerged.

If we dig a bit deeper into the process, we find greater complexity. Sophie B. Herrick did just that in Visible Sound – Comment [Century Magazine 42, 40 (1891)]:

These voice-flowers are not the simple visual forms corresponding with the vibrations of the air set in motion by the voice. The waves generated in the closed bowl of the eidophone are reflected again and again from the sides of the vessel. The volume of air inclosed has its own rate of vibration; the stretched membrane has also its own rate, which in turn is modified by the character and thickness of the paste spread upon it. Added to these are molecular forces of cohesion and adhesion between the particles of paste, and again between the paste and the membrane. The form which grows into shape is the resultant of all these complicated forces, and, in some instances, new elements of change have been added. A glass plate is placed on top of the vibrating membrane and moved over it. We have a new body introduced with its proper rate of vibration, besides a mechanical motion further to complicate the problem.

According to an article in MIT’s The Net Advance of Physics Weblog, Hughes’ “flower-like forms” were rediscovered in the 1960s by Swiss researcher Hans Jenny, who went on to coin the term cymatics to describe acoustic effects of sound wave phenomena. However it appears as if Jenny was only familiar with the black and white reproductions of Hughes works as published in her Century article.

The larger color works were thought to be lost(!) but were found in 2016 by the staff of the Cyfarthfa Castle Museum, located in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, while digging through their archives. Taken as a whole, Hughes’ work has a foot in two camps —as part of the history and study of the physics of sound, and as part of the history of art. These works were displayed as such during her lifetime.

One can imagine that the Surrealists would have been quite taken with these voice-figures, automatism sans hands, and I find them quite beautiful and striking as works of visual art that do not fit the tidy androcentric narrative of history, art or otherwise (see Hilma af Klint for a similarly jarring example).

https://twitteringmachines.com/the-voice-made-visible-margaret-watts-hughes-and-her-eidophone/

https://medium.com/swlh/margaret-watts-hughes-and-the-shape-of-the-human-voice-d9f1a023c0c1

[frozenthoughtbox]

“Cheese and bread” was literally one of the rallying cries of the workers of the Merthyr Rising of 1831 in Wales.

[rebeccabrynposts]

Pre-order now and have it delivered to your e-reader on october 19th.

New release. Another family saga.

It’s taken me the best part of a year, but the sequel to Wales Rising Book One ‘Give Us This Day – the Merthyr rising’ is finally available. I’ve loved researching the Rebecca riots, for once a setting close to my home in West Wales, and visiting the places where the old tollhouses and tollgates once stood. From Carmarthen, where the Chartist movement began, and Newport, South Wales, where the…

[kursedaudio]

"Merthyr Rising" by Iselder

Many thanks to Gofid of Iselder/Marwolaeth Records for letting me loose on this unreleased track!

Lyrics dealing with ugly episodes from Welsh history. Music in the vein of Darkthrone/Venom/Hellhammer.

[dymagamwedd]

the thing about 18th century welsh names is like. the leader of the merthyr rising was called lewysn yr heliwr ("lewis the haulier"), that's how people up and down wales knew him, and then his official recorded name in english is just

lewis lewis

and the guy put on trial beside him had his name translated from dic penderyn (richard from penderyn) (he wasn't even from penderyn but that's besides the point) into

richard lewis

[thephantomofthelibrary]

what’s your Favorite fact/event/person in welsh history?

(Oooohhhh thank you for the ask!! So many interesting things to pick though, haha. I feel like I have to answer each little bit because then I can choose three things instead of struggling to pick one.

My favourite Welsh history fact:

Here’s a little linguistic history for you. When the Anglo Saxons invaded the British Isles they named the locals Wealisc (Welsh) and the land Wealas (Wales) from an Anglo-Saxon word which meant ‘foreigner’. However, the Welsh called themselves Cymraeg (Welsh) or Cymro (Welshman) Cymraes (Welsh woman) and Cymru (Wales) which comes from the old welsh Combrogi which translates as compatriot or comrade. I just find it to be quite poetic.

My favourite Welsh history event:

But which one to choose. So many great things happened. I think I will have to settle for the Merthyr Rising of 1831. It happened in a place called Merthyr Tydfil and was caused by a combination of factors including the poor economic conditions, the laying off of workers in the area and the constant calling for parliamentary reform. The spark was lit 31 May 1831 when bailiffs went to the home of Lewis Lewis to demand goods as payment for his debt. He refused. The magistrate had to be called to deal with the situation and eventually Lewis agreed to part with a trunk. Then events spiral from here. 

June 1st: While a crowd of workers march to the ironworks demanding bread, Lewis and a crowd march to the shopkeeper’s house, for the shopkeeper had purchased Lewis’ trunk from the bailiffs. He was going to reclaim it. The rest of the crowd then went to reclaim the things which had been taken from them, ransacking homes as they marched into Merthyr. 

June 2nd: The crowd assembles outside the Castle Inn hotel and the crowd continued to swell as more and more workers join the protest. The ironmasters are trapped inside and fear for their lives and troops are requested to help. The crowd burn all bailiffs records. 

June 3rd: the troops arrive and are stationed in and around the Castle Inn. The crowd by this point had swelled to 10,000. They demanded cheaper prices, higher wages, the suppression of the bailiffs and immediate parliamentary reform, none of which the ironmaster would even be able to grant them. Instead the ironmasters offered them bread to which the crowd responded, “with cheese, bread with cheese!” signifying that the efforts of the ironmasters were not announced. The local magistrate came to read the Riot Act which stated that if they did not remove themselves within the hour then the whole crowd would be guilty of a capital crime. The crowd begins to surge forward demanding the soldiers be disarmed. They throw stones at the soldiers which provokes the soldiers to open fire. The fighting continued for 15 minutes. About 16 soldiers were wounded. It is unknown how many of the crowd were killed as they were secretly buried in the night but it is suspected to be somewhere between 20-30. It was clear more military help would be necessary especially with the next action. The workers killed a calf and bathed some cloth in the blood. They then flew the red flag of revolution. 

June 4th: More soldiers arrive. The Swansea Yeomanry were ambushed by the crowd, the crowd seizing their weapons. The crowd now had muskets and sabres and not just stones as ammunition. 

June 6th: another attack is planned by the crowd but insiders tell the authorities about it. They send the various military units to meet them. The Riot Act is read once more but they refuse to leave. The commanders call for their soldiers to drawn their sabres and ready their muskets. It was enough to disperse the crowd who had lost the upper hand. Many flee to the woods, wanting to wait for the authorities searches to subside. Of course they can’t kill all of them but the authorities will certainly want to make an example of those they catch. The main ringleader Lewis Lewis is caught. He was originally sentence to death but his sentence was commuted to transportation after the intervention of his employer. However, the authorities had to make an example of someone. Dic Penderyn was hung on 13 August 1831. Its most likely that he was a scapegoat for the ringleaders. He was accused of stabbing one of the soldiers and injuring him. 

My favourite Welsh history person:

GRIFFITH JONES!!! I love this man so much. He created something called the circulating schools which aimed at teaching children and adults to read and write. When he started his enterprise Wales was one of the least literate countries in Europe. Between 1731 and 1761 his circulating schools operated, moving from town to town, village to village, until he had covered most of Wales. By 1761, Griffith Jones had transformed Wales from one of the least literate nations in Europe to one of the most literate nations in Europe. This man is a personal hero of mine. He taught men, women and children regardless or their age and religion. Previously educating enterprises in Wales had been initiated by Anglican clergymen who would only accept Anglicans into their schools despite that fact that most of Wales was Nonconformist. Griffith Jones, despite being Anglican himself, accepted everyone. 

Sorry for the length of this, I can’t help myself when it comes to Welsh history. 

Thank you for the ask! 

[cofiwchcymru]

Dic Penderyn, The Martyr of Merthyr

The first time a red flag was ever flown in the name of revolution; a symbol of Welsh oppression by the Crown; a most notorious miscarriage of justice - this is the story of the Merthyr Rising and Dic Penderyn, the Martyr of Merthyr.

-

Threads of Deprivation

The second war of independence was won by the Americans in February 1812, with the ratification of the Treaty of Ghent. Simultaneously with this, the Napoleonic wars were in full swing as the tensions were rising up to the famous Waterloo Campaign where Napoleon was decisively beaten bringing the wars to a close.

Fighting two wars simultaneously, whilst dealing with the trials and tribulations of the Industrial Revolution pushed Britain's government, and the populace into difficult territory.

Significant economic deprivation occurred within the twenty years as the Conservative Government attempted to balance the books through extreme austerity. High levels of unemployment was the 'norm' across Britain, significantly affecting working-class areas up and down the country. This unemployment was particularly prevalent amongst those soldiers returning from either the Napoleonic wars of the Second War of Independence.

Britons began to express their dissent, and the Government became more authoritarian as a result to attempt to quell violent uprising. Afraid of the country turning to despair as it did in France during the only-recently-resolved French Revolution, the dominant Conservative party government, led by The Earl of Liverpool slapped down attempts at parliamentary reform with harsh refusals.

The notorious Peterloo massacre followed, counting 18 deaths amongst the 60,000 protesters. This massacre, which occurred in Manchester on 16th August 1819, became the government's catalyst to enact the repressive 'Six Acts' laws which prohibited unsanctioned military training, gatherings of more than 50 people, dictatorial search and seizure laws and punished the press and writers who wrote opinion on church and state matters.

There was a deep tension amongst the working class, whose lives were insecure and expendable in the eyes of their employers, and largely ignored by those in power. This resulted in what can only be described as simmering unrest - a general distaste for those of wealth, and those with authority and power.

The Crawshay Catalyst

William Crawshay was one of the main employers in Merthyr Tydfil in the 1800s. His empire stretched across the Welsh Valleys in the form of coal mines, and the famous Cyfartha Ironworks. Given the Valleys populace featured a significant amount of people who moved to the region specifically for the employment, it meant that changes to employment circumstances affected the population of the region as a whole.

If a factory or employer went into administration in the present day, only the workers at that employer would be affected, but since so many people in the region worked for Crawshay in the 1800s in one form or another, the moment economic deprivation began to affect his bottom-line, he looked to pinch his workers in order to maintain his profits. This was not a situation specific to William Crawshay; numerous big-names of the industrial revolution across Britain made similar moves, resulting in loyal workers all across the country being unable to acquire food or security.

Merthyr Tydfil and the surrounding regions were one of the main producers of Iron in the UK at the Cyfartha Ironworks, Hirwaun Ironworks and numerous other ironworks in the area, all were fuelled by the nearby affiliated coal mines. By 1831, most were owned by William Crawshay, or his son Henry. Richard Trevithick's revolutionary steam trams, which ran through the centre of town of Merthyr Tydfil acted as a centralisation of the industry in the Valleys. Merthyr Tydfil became the centre of the universe for much of the working-class, and when this centre began to strain, the effects were felt by the population all the more keenly than elsewhere because of this fact.

In 1829, the price of iron fell, so the Crawshays, and the other industrial owners in the region began closing down furnaces in response to the slowing demand. Wages were cut and the price of local goods began to increase, forcing many previously working families into poverty. The Court of Requests, which acted in the interests of lawmakers and the King, was seen as one of the major antagonists in the eyes of the working class during this time; the ruthless bailiffs would seize any personal possessions of those in debt.

Crawshay defied all other ironmasters by keeping wages high, and co-founding the Political Union of Merthyr. He began to stockpile Pig Iron, convinced he could outlast the recession and bounce back. Unfortunately, his confidence was misplaced, the rocky political climate extended the recession beyond predictions, the battles amongst the liberals and the Conservatives in Westminster caused a dissolution of parliament. Crawshay's hands were tied, and in March 1831, announced a pay cut for his workers. The Crawshay workers were some of the last families in Merthyr who joined the hordes of others towing the poverty line.

Elimination of Debt & The Shutting of the Mines

In May of 1831 the rumblings of dissent were being felt across Merthyr and the surrounding communities. Local coal miners began to protest against their employers demanding working conditions, lowered wages and the large proportion of unemployed workers. Small localised protests soon became larger centralised protests as word began to spread. Merthyr Tydfil became the battleground for these protests.

Flags doused in calf blood were waved, alongside the burning effigies of prominent Conservatives, by the protesters that filled the streets of Merthyr, calling for "Caws a Bara" (cheese and bread) as so many of the town's unemployed were fast approaching starvation. This is widely regarded as the first time that red flags were flown to represent workers rights specifically. Nowadays the symbol exists as a representation of socialism, even communism, Marxism and anarchism; almost the left-wing working class symbol of protest.

During the protests, dissenters spilled into the Court of Requests in Merthyr town centre and began burning ledgers containing the details of debts incurred by the people of the region, effectively attempting to eliminate debt - removing the weapon of Merthyr's bailiffs against the working class. Rallying under the cries of "I lawr â'r Brenin" (down with the King), the protests continued throughout the month of May.

At the beginning of June, the protesters sought to involve the working local miners in the rebellion, resulting in the shuttering of many of the mines as the workers absconded from their shifts.

All of this caught the eye of the British Government, who responded in characteristic Conservative authoritarian manner and sent in the army to attempt to disperse the crowds and keep order in the town. The 93rd Regiment of Foot were amongst the responders to the call, and they marched on Merthyr to engage the protesters. However the crowd was far larger than they were equipped for, so to prevent being overrun they were ordered to protect some key buildings and people.

A Fateful Engagement

3rd of June, 1831, a meeting was held in the Castle Inn on Castle Street in Merthyr town centre. The High Sheriff of Glamorgan amongst local employers, ironmasters, magistrates and other important people in the town sought to bring to an end the conflict. Understanding the importance of this meeting, a large group of protesters led by Leswyn yr Heliwr (Lewis "The Huntsman", or more likely "The Haulier") as he was known descended upon the Castle Inn to make demands.

Lewis Lewis was Leswyn yr Heliwr's real name, a haulier from Penderyn, a town roughly 10 miles away whose job it was to haul coal from the pits in Llwydcoed to the lime kilns in Penderyn. If this rebellion had any such leader, then Lewis Lewis was it, as one of the most outspoken agitators of the crowd.

Lewis Lewis was effectively one of the 'spokespersons' of the crowd, and the following demands were communicated to those meeting in the Castle Inn - abolition of the Court of Requests, the abolition of all imprisonment for debt, new laws against price gouging, and no hiring new colliers and miners on lower wages than their predecessors. These demands were regarded as 'mild' and somewhat 'reasonable'. Unfortunately, despite the lawmakers acquiescing on the abolition of the Court of Requests, their refusal to protect workers rights, and ensure the freedom and safety of debtors without a guarantee for industrial reform meant that largely the workers demands were summarily rejected. The crowd did not take the news well.

A struggle ensued. The magistrates read aloud the Riot Act, and warned the crowd to disperse. The crowd became more agitated. Magistrates threatened the crowd with the use of force; the 93rd Regiment of the Foot were standing by. The crowd became even more agitated.

The exact blow-by-blow details of the following moments are up for debate, but what we do know is that Lewis Lewis through the anger and adrenaline, encouraged the crowd to disarm the soldiers, and the crowd surged forward, grasping at the rifles of the soldiers. Some were disarmed, others were injured and bludgeoned by the crowd. One soldier, Donald Black, was stabbed in the leg with a bayonet that had been wrestled from a soldier. The soldiers began to fire upon the crowd. 24 protestors were killed, hundreds more were injured on both sides of the conflict.

A source describes the following: "The street outside the Inn was dreadfully covered in blood, women were screaming and looking for their husbands and sons and the soldiers, too, were in a sorry state, injured and some seemed near death. Altogether 16 soldiers were wounded, 6 of them severely, and up to 24 of the rioters had been killed."

The soldiers retreated to Penydarren House, leaving the town entirely in the hands of the rebellion.

Protracted Occupation

Over the course of the next few days, Penydarren House became the only point of authority in the region, where the town itself was being occupied entirely by the rioters.

From the soldiers, the rebellion managed to commandeer arms, explosives and used these to great effect setting up roadblocks, and taking full control of the town. They began to prepare the town for a protracted occupation, a siege.

Reinforcements were requested and were answered in the the form of both the East Glamorgan Yeomanry and the Swansea Yeomanry. The East Glamorgan Yeomanry, were prevented from reaching Merthyr where they were escorting essential supplies for Penydarren House, via an ambush on the baggage train by the rebellion, forcing them to retreat to the Brecon hills. The Swansea Yeomanry, upon entering the town of Hirwaun, they were surrounded by dissenters. In an apparent peaceful engagement, the Yeomanry were disarmed of their sabres which were then forced to return to their garrison at Swansea in order to re-arm. Their return to Merthyr following their rearming, was hitch-free and they finally added to the numbers gathering at Penydarren House.

Penydarren House sent a detachment of 100 cavalry to try and re-take Merthyr Tydfil, however, since the town had been geared up for a siege, the cavalry were surprisingly outmatched, where again they were forced to retreat.

During this time, the news of the town's violent engagements began to spread to the outlying towns and outside the region of Merthyr, spreading panic amongst the populace. The lack of clear leadership amongst the dissenters led to many absconding from the rebellion. Families began to flee from the riots, and the town of Merthyr began to descend into disarray.

The Ending of the Rising

In an attempt to restore the public confidence in their rebellion, the rioters called a mass meeting. The authorities at Penydarren House managed to send messages to their agents who had joined the rebellion, and those messages began to spread throughout the rioters. The authorities had announced that involvement in the rebellion amounted to high treason and clearly, that all dissenters would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. This was enough to destabilise the shaky ground already faced by the rebels.

The meeting went ahead at Waun above Dowlais, on the outskirts of Merthyr town, and Penydarren House sent a large detachment of soldiers to the meeting. Some 12,000 unarmed, unconfident, scared rebels faced 450 well-armed and organised troops.

There was allegedly no violent confrontation at this event, but faced with the force of troops, the crowd immediately dispersed into the countryside, all going their own way. It was this 'conflict' that represented the end of the Merthyr Rising; the troops re-took the town, and the industry began to start working again.

The aftermath saw many of the dissenters, including Leswyn yr Heliwr being sentenced harshly for their part in the rebellion. Leswyn yr Heliwr was initially sentenced to death by hanging before being commuted to exile to Australia after a police officer testified that Lewis had personally shielded him from angry rebels at the Castle Inn conflict. The wealthy and royalists in England, in particular Charles Gray, the 2nd Earl Gray (yes, of the variety of tea-fame), was determined that someone should pay the ultimate price by example, so there was no further reprieve for any of the other sentences. Unfortunately, of the two death sentences in result of the rebellion, the one who did not have his sentence commuted was Dic Penderyn.

Dic

Amongst the crowd at the Castle Inn engagement of the 3rd of June 1831, and one of the twelve dissenters who were granted access to the Castle Inn to deliver the list of demands to the magistrates, was Richard Lewis, a miner who was born in Aberavon, in a cottage called Penderyn, but resided in Merthyr Tydfil at the time. Richard Lewis was 23 years old, a large man, and known for being a heavy drinker amongst his friends. He is also purported to be intelligent, and a strong debater, known for fighting for workers rights, sometimes physically. He was known affectionately by his friends as Dic Penderyn (short for Richard, and in reference to the cottage he grew up in).

Penderyn was arrested for stabbing Private Donald Black during the Castle Inn conflict. This stabbing was one of many injuries across the soldiery during this conflict, and was by all accounts, not serious. However, Dic Penderyn was sentenced to death.

Contributing to his prosecution was James Abbott, a local hairdresser and Special Constable for the Police, who testified that he'd personally saw Dic Penderyn stab Private Donald Black.

Private Black however, went on record to say categorically, the man that stabbed him was not Dic Penderyn. However, at this point, the ruling class wanted someone to answer for the Rising. Since they gave Lewis Lewis a reprieve with his sentence being commuted; this move was in-part because they didn't want his hanging to trigger another rebellion - so with Lewis Lewis out of the firing line of the magistrates, they sought to try, convict and sentence someone for the crime as an example to the workers of Merthyr. Dic Penderyn was their scapegoat.

They had one testimony from James Abbott aligning him with the crime, but a conflicting testimony from the victim himself that Dic was not the perpetrator, as well as many outspoken members of the public who saw Dic Penderyn elsewhere in the crowd during the conflict. None of this mattered, all that was required was James Abbott's testimony, and a judge was convinced, and he was therefore sentenced to hang.

His sentence triggered an outpouring of support, from many working-class and their wealthy landowners and employers alike. A petition was signed 11,000 people in the region, and was supported by the likes of Joseph Tregelles Price, the Quaker philanthropist. All this support was hoped to move Lord Melbourne the Home Secretary at the time of the Rising, especially when Price petitioned him personally to commute sentence, but the petition was refused.

On the 13th of August, having been transported to Cardiff, Dic uttered the famous line "O Arglwydd, dyma gamwedd" (O Lord, there is an injustice) prior to being hanged for the 'crimes'. The hanging reportedly caused his pregnant wife to suffer an immediate miscarriage.

He was laid to rest in St Mary's Church in Aberavon, and his body was accompanies on the funeral march by thousands of mourners.

Conspiracy

At the point when Joseph Tregelles Price sought to petition the Lord Melbourne, it very much appeared (and was later reported as) the arrest and subsequent sentence were ordered personally by Lord Melbourne in order to make an example of the rioters, and as such, Price's petition was summarily refused, and the hanging was to go ahead. It appeared to onlookers that the wheels of justice were directed at Dic Penderyn purposefully, and through no sense of the reality of 'justice', but as revenge for the workers of Merthyr's audacity of rebelling against the ruling class. Dic Penderyn was officially convicted of stabbing, but his sentence was to single-handedly bear the entirety of the consequence across the whole of the Merthyr Rising rebellion event.

More evidence of a conspiracy to convict emerged in later years when hairdresser and one-time Special Constable for the Police admitted that he lied under oath, and that he was directly instructed to do so by Lord Melbourne.

In 1874, in America, a high-regarded minister named Evan Evans communicated that a man by the name of Ianto Parker had been the person to stab Private Donald Black, which was confessed to him as part of a deathbed confession. Parker had, upon committing the crime, immediately fled to America to escape justice.

It looks like the Crown and the Parliament got their revenge for the riots by killing an innocent man, when they knew full well the extent of his innocence.

Legacy

Dic Penderyn's legacy is that he is a martyr. He is viscerally representative of the Crown, the wealthy, and Parliaments campaign against the poor and working-class of the country. His ascension to martyr was immediate, and far-reaching. Nearly 200 years after his death, his name is still known. There is a plaque on the wall of Cardiff Market where the gallows once stood, and even as recently as 2016, MP for Aberavon, alongside MPs for the Cynon Valley where much of the conflicts took place, are campaigning parliament to officially extend an exoneration.

Dic Penderyn is innocent.

Dic Penderyn was killed unlawfully by the Crown.

Dic Penderyn is a martyr.

Cofiwch Dic Penderyn.

-

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dic_Penderyn

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merthyr_Rising

https://biography.wales/article/s-LEWI-RIC-1807

https://biography.wales/article/s-LEWI-LEW-1793

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_Kingdom#Postwar_reaction:_1815%E2%80%931822

https://libcom.org/library/1831-merthyr-tydfil-uprising

https://www.socialist.net/the-merthyr-rising-1831-rage-rebellion-and-the-red-flag.htm

Consolidation of conflicting facts, my own.

[invisibleicewands]

Michael Sheen just performed a new World Cup speech to Wales' stars and it's somehow even better than the original

Michael Sheen has performed a fantastic new rendition of his now iconic World Cup speech to stunned Wales players at their Vale of Glamorgan training base.

Sheen's impromptu speech on sports-comedy panel show A League of Their Own earlier this month rightly went viral after he was asked by host Romesh Ranganathan to deliver a hypothetical pre-match team talk to Wales players ahead of their World Cup encounter with England.

The speech, brimming with passion and delivered with gusto, sent shivers down the spines of every Welsh man, woman and child in the land, as well as many people who aren't from this small corner of the world, which you can read about here.

Wales boss Rob Page admitted that when he first watched the initial speech from A League of Their Own, it made him "well up" and he wanted to get Sheen into camp as soon as possible. And on Monday morning, just hours after Wales were defeated by Poland at Cardiff City Stadium in the Nations League, Sheen entered the camp to deliver yet another spine-tingling new speech.

Port Talbot-born Sheen, an acting icon known for his work in The Queen, The Damned United, Twilight, Frost/Nixon and much, much more, was presented with a Wales jersey, with his name and the number 22 on the back, before he addressed the squad.

"When I did the speech on A League of Their Own, it was specifically for the England game," Sheen began. "But I couldn't come and see you and not give you something to go with.

"My song is the words I speak. So I will try and customise what I did before and give you something to take with you."

Sheen's new rendition was far broader and included nods to the Merthyr Rising and the power of the national anthem. But it was very much centred around the team having the backing of the whole nation when they take the field for that first match in Qatar.

Sheen's speech finished and it left a moment or two of stunned silence around a large conference suite at the team's Vale of Glamorgan training HQ, before rapturous applause broke out.

Sheen was then embraced by Page and Gareth Bale, who presented him with a personalised, commemorative bottle, emblazoned with the words 'Yma o Hyd', before the squad signed his shirt.

Michael Sheen's new speech in full

Yma o hyd, yma o hyd,

I hear the voices singing,

Speed your journey, bois bach,

One nation, singing with one voice,

A song of hope, a song of courage,

A victory song that floats through the valleys, like a red mist,

Rolls over the mountain tops, like crimson thunder,

A red storm is coming to the gates of Qatar,

It sparkles and crackles, with the spirit of '58 and Jimmy Murphy's boys,

It turns the pages of the history books,

And finds Rob's page, waiting, still to be written,

What would you write in there, boys?

Dare you write your names on that page?

64 years and far from home, far from the old land of our fathers,

Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau,

When you are standing there listening to that song of songs start up,

Shoulder to shoulder with the lads in this room,

Team-mates, friends, brothers, princes, all selected by the divine,

When you are standing there, side by side, and that holy song begins,

Close your eyes and feel the breath on the back of your necks,

Because that's every man, woman and child in this old land standing there with you,

At your backs, that's the people of Wales, your people,

Feel their breath quickening with yours,

Hear their blood drumming in your ears,

Pounding through your heart,

Bursting through your chest,

That's the blood of Wales, your blood, red as the ancient book of dreams,

Red as the rising flag of Merthyr,

Red as the great wall of Gwalia,

Because that's what you carry with you, boys,

Across 64 years, across half the span of the world,

It's there, on your chest,

It's there, at your back,

It's there, at your side,

They always say, we are too small, too, slow, too weak, too full of fear,

But yma o hyd, you sons of Speed,

With that red wall around us,

We are still here.

[wrestlingwithhistory]

Why do I like Pro Wrestling?

Even though I’ve put a few posts up on the page already I wanted to introduce myself a little and break down why I’m doing this and give a bit of history about me and why I like pro wrestling.

My name is Kyle, I’m 33 from South Wales, I am married with 2 children. I first started watching wrestling when I was about 7 which I will go into as we go through the post. I started this blog for 2 reasons.

1.     I love stories about pro-wrestling and wrestling itself.

2.     I am starting a creative writing course and want to keep on top of writing so that I am comfortable with writing as I haven’t done it since I was in school.

Now, there are a million stories from Pro Wrestling that you’ve heard from the Benoit Murders to The Montreal Screwjob to The Plane Ride from Hell, but I have an interest in writing about the stories that people are maybe not as aware of that still involve some of the biggest names in Wrestling history.

Nowadays, we can be thankful as wrestling fans that we have a multitude of ways that we could watch wrestling thanks to the rise of streaming sites, Youtube and online stores which you can buy DVD’s or digital copies of your favourite events. Being a child of the 90’s, you would stumble across wrestling almost out of nowhere. I remember being in my grandparents’ house maybe aged 5 or 6. I never had satellite or cable TV growing up, only terrestrial, and coming in one morning and seeing Hulk Hogan on the TV in my grandparents’ house really caught my attention. I couldn’t tell you what show it was or who else was on it, but I remember as I watched Hogan, waving his arms to the crowd and cupping his ears to the Hulkamaniacs as he did throughout his career, that I held a curiosity toward wrestling and did ever since.

I can then remember a few years later one of my best friends growing up had a video at home which on the cover, a man would be fighting himself! Undertaker vs Undertaker. Back then, it was the most amazing thing possible, the mystery of how a wrestler could square off against himself in the ring was unimaginable for a then 7–8-year-old. Of course, that event being Summerslam 94 would not be the great event you look back on, but you appreciate the spectacle of it. I do look back fondly on that VHS and as I watch the event back, the standout match-up is clearly the Owen Hart vs Bret Hart Steel cage match, but it’s not the type of thing you value as a child.

You value spectacle. You value entertainment. At least I did anyway. You treat it the same way you treat a cartoon or movie, you suspend your disbelief for a few moments and take in the pageantry of it all. Some people class Wrestling as 3rd hand entertainment, and I have had many occasions where people have made jokes of the fact I watch wrestling, to the point where I would not even mention it if asked.

But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to not care and be happy with the fact I like it so much. It’s not a guilty pleasure, It’s just a pleasure. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve also embraced less of the spectacle side of it I once did and look at the athletic feats that take place in the ring, focusing on the technique that these men have to make it look as dangerous as possible, all the while keeping their opponent safe. I do still appreciate the entertainment value, but I definitely look at things like the work rate of the competitors and what they are capable of.

During my teens, we used to travel to video store not too far away from us in a town called Bargoed. Global Video was one of the first places to stock ECW VHS cassettes. My friends Daniel, Josh and I would go there, pick out a few VHS and go back to Josh’s room to watch them. One of the first ones I can remember watching was Living Dangerously 1999. For its time, the pacing and the layout of the matches were a perfect fit for that show. I remember thoroughly enjoying Tajiri vs Super Crazy, Sid and Spike Dudley vs The Dudley Boyz and also New Jack vs Mustafa which was enough violence for a teenage to endure at that point.

The one match from that event which today I place in my top 10 matches ever is Rob Van Dam vs Jerry Lynn for the TV Title. Watching the opening exchange between the two men figure each other out, reversals of pins, hammerlocks and wristlocks was fantastic and when they separated and looked at each other, it was rapturous. The crowd ate it up. You could tell something special was taking place. As the match continued, I saw things that I never would have seen on WWF during that time realistically speaking. There was a reason the E stood for Extreme in ECW. They always took things to the next level, and while the TV Title was far from being the most brutal match on the card (in part due to New Jack!) it was creative in the way it structured the use of weapons, tablet spots and fighting outside the ring. When the bell rings at the end for a timer limit draw, as a first-time viewer you feel almost cheated, not by the quality of the match but by the fact it could have gone on for another 30 mins. When Jerry Lynn requests 5 more minutes and is granted it, you think you are in for a Jerry Lynn victory but RVD pulls it out of the bag at the end hitting the 5-star Frog Splash. And great ending to a great match.

Throughout this time the Attitude era was in full affect. WWF had a huge roster of stars that any company would have been proud to have, Stone-Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle. It was a pleasure to watch some of these events. My friend Michael would record Raw and later Smackdown and let us borrow the tapes so we could get our fix. In January 2000, Channel 4 had gotten a deal to show a few WWF Pay-per-views for free starting with the Royal Rumble. I stayed at Daniel’s house and we watched it live on a small TV. We were extra excited that Taz showed up on the event to face Kurt Angle with an extra ‘Z’ in his name, especially after find ECW a few months previous. Add to that the shock factor of Mae Young’s striptease, the Rumble result, the street fight between Cactus Jack and Triple H, the tables match between the Dudleys and Hardys, it was a phenomenal show.

With the events now being on Channel 4, I would look eagerly on internet forums during school hours trying to find out which ones were next. I remember staying up and watching Backlash 2000 and Fully Loaded of that year, also recording them to go back and watch and study the matches. I would cover the back of the VHS case with white stickers and write the match card on the back in order, so I knew where to find my favourites. They also stared showing Sunday Night Heat as well, which I later years would also have an RVD vs Jerry Lynn match up but not at the same quality as the ECW Event the years previous. These events on Channel 4 ended with the Invasion PPV in 2001 after WWE bought WCW and ECW acquiring many, but not all of their top stars.

Tying this in with Video games like WWF Attitude, Smackdown, WCW/NWO Revenge, WCW Mayhem it helped nurture my love for it even more especially WWE Smackdown 2: Know Your Role because you can create your own shows, wrestlers and storylines. We would have nights playing the game having Royal Rumbles and tournaments, finding how to create wrestlers from online forums like CAWs.ws.

My friend Daniel got the internet at home and we would spend hours searching Kazaa for wrestling videos we couldn’t find on VHS, in-between searching for Create-a-Wrestler guides for Smackdown games. They would usually be the Music Video highlight reels of matches we would want to see. Being early 2000’s it was usually set to Creed, Godsmack or Limp Bizkit but it would be things like Sabu vs RVD in a stretcher match, seeing Goldberg jackhammer The Giant/Big Show, and whatever we could find of these old matches you would read about in Power Slam magazine like the Exploding Barb Wire matches involving Mick Foley, Terry Funk and Onita.

A few years later, with the introduction of freeview satellite there was now more channels in homes than before and one of those was The Wrestling Channel. I turned it to this station thinking it would be WWE but was amazed to see companies more similar to ECW. US Promotions Ring of Honor, Combat Zone Wrestling, TNA/NWA and a few smaller based promotions were present as well as a mix of local British talent. It was on this channel that I first saw a match that involved light tubes, obviously CZW. Although not my favourite style, death matches certainly have a car crash factor to them. You know something gruesome is going to happen, but you can’t look away. But on the opposite of that, with ROH you got to see unbelievable work rate wrestling with the likes of CM Punk, Samoa Joe, Bryan Danielson and Low Ki and with TNA similar talents but with more professional looking, AJ Styles, Teddy Hart and Jeff Jarrett being stars that shone there.

Getting to see high flying stars like Amazing Red, Jack Evans, Teddy Hart, AJ Styles was enthralling. It was a side of pro wrestling you never saw on the more methodical WWE and I would watch whenever possible but still getting my WWE fix via VHS recordings Michael would lend us, especially as some of our favourites from ECW and WCW were now competing there.

From around 2006, I began to wane off watching Wrestling as often. I was playing in a band and focusing on that was well as starting a relationship with my now wife. My band mates Lloyd and Ryan were into Wrestling, so I used to and still do talk to them about it now and then. We used to go to local wrestling shows in Merthyr Tydfil for Celtic Wrestling. Back then, they were just Joe Nobodies wrestling in a bar, but as I look back over many of the people on that show, they have foundations on Wrestling all over the world.

A list of some of the names I got to see in Merthyr Tydfil; Sheamus – Now WWE, Steve Corino – ECW Legend, Zack Sabre Jr – Current New Japan star, Tracy Smothers – Wrestling Journeyman passed away in 2020. I remember seeing Tracy Smothers and I was a fan from ECW when he was with FBI and he was great and a nice guy after the show too. The fact that someone who was wrestled for WWE, ECW and WCW was in Merthyr wrestling, to me was mind-blowing!

A few months later I found out they were doing Wrestling training at The Studio Bar in Merthyr in around 2008 (could be way off), so I went along. I didn’t tell anyone, I got dressed in football gear and told my girlfriend Sara I was off to play football. Instead, I went into this bar and rolled around on some mats for beginner lessons on a Wednesday learning basic holds and how to bump. I really enjoyed it and it was better than bumping on the grass like I used to do as a kid in my local park. I went twice in all, as much as I wanted to go back and keep going, I was thinking that playing music would be easier to justify to someone than saying you were a wrestler so that was that.

I always kept an eye on wrestling but not as intently as I did before, maybe it was my way of disconnecting from wanting to do it as much as I did. I would watch the odd Raw or Smackdown and just buy the Big 4 Pay-per-Views and this went on for close on 8 years, just dipping in and out casually but still knowing who was in the business and doing things else were. We still had TNA in the UK so getting to see that was great, especially with the talent they had there for a while.

It wasn’t until 2016 I started to get back into wrestling as much as I do now. AJ Styles had finally joined WWE after seeming he would never appear there and that interested me because AJ is probably one of my favourites of all time. Twitter was blowing up because of a match between Will Ospreay and Ricochet in the Best of Super Juniors during that year. Seeing mostly positive comments and the odd one or two negative comments from old school wrestlers. So, I clicked on a then Youtube video of the match and it was such a great match. I felt the buzz straight away and immediately started to get the itch back for watching wrestling again.

I had no experience of much Japanese wrestling, but I always enjoyed reading in magazines about people like Jyushin Thuder Liger and The Great Muta and seeing their matches on WCW years ago, as well as people like Taka Michinoku and Tajiri but the Ospreay-Ricochet match convinced me to sign up to NJPW World. That summer I followed the G1 closely. Bullet Club madness was in full effect, seeing the iconic t-shirts and the way they were in the ring were similar to NWO, almost too much to a fault. I didn’t really know any of the performers in the tournament but after watching matches, would go back through the New Japan archives and watch the matches of Okada, Tanahashi, Naito, Shibata and the others, getting to know their styles and gimmicks.

One that immediately jumped out to me was Kenny Omega. He was one of 4 non-Japanese wrestlers (Gaijin) in the whole tournament. I learned that he had turned on AJ Styles and took over as leader of Bullet Club. I went back and watched AJ’s final matches against Nakamura at Wrestle Kingdom 10, and then the tag match the following night between AJ and Kenny vs Nakamura and Yoshi-Hashi. I followed Kenny closely over the G1 and into the finals against Hirooki Goto which was an absolutely brilliant match. Omega ended up winning, going onto Wrestle Kingdom 11 to face Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. I checked my work diary to see if I had work that day, and I was off! Due to the time differences, I was able to catch some of the pre-show in the morning, drop my oldest daughter off to school and come back in time for the Naito-Tanahashi and Omega-Okada matches.

I got back and watched the Naito-Tanahashi match, a really fantastic match to which I remember saying to myself ‘the main event is going to need to be special to top that’. Cue watching my personal favourite match of all time. The pacing and the psychology of the match were so well done, Omega targeting Okada’s back ready for the One-Winged Angel but never getting to hit it through the match. The springboard moonsault to the outside over the guard rails, the Tope Con Hilo over the top which still holds one of the iconic images of the match as a whole, Okada’s resilience as a champion, back dropping Omega over the top rope to the outside through a table. It was and is incredible, debatably one of the greatest matches of all time. Not just in my opinion but for many others as well. And so, I was back in. From that point onwards, I was an ardent fan once again. I would use the archives of WWE Network, NJPW World, Youtube, Highspots Wrestling Network to feed my addiction, following twitter pages which is just GIF after GIF of just the craziest moves.

I would try and watch as many of the live shows in Japan as possible to watch Omega perform and throughout 2017, even though it probably could have been savoured a bit more, we got to see 2 more amazing Omega-Okada matches at both Dominion and G1 and also a lead to Omega-Jericho for WK12. Both my current favourite and my all-time favourite meeting for the first time for a great match. From a Kenny standard it was not as good as some of his previous but for Jericho it was probably one of his best even compared against some of his classics against the likes of Shawn Michaels and Chris Benoit.

In the Summer of 2018, I watched the Dominion show where again Kenny Omega went up against Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight championship. It was a 2 out of 3 falls match with no time limit. I couldn’t get the time off work for the event so I managed to smuggle my phone into work and would watch intently while selling mobile phones. It was another amazing match up, but I had to watch it over again after finishing work so that I could experience with sound, but even on silent, you could feel how brilliant the match was and Kenny finally defeated Okada for the title. Even though Kenny won it, I much preferred him fighting from beneath, almost as if achieving the pinnacle of wrestling was never going to happen. Even though he had a good handful of matches as champion, the ensuing AEW venture obviously scrapped any possibility of a long-term reign. Also disappointing to see New Japan miss a trick by letting Ibushi win the G1 and then the title from Kenny at WK13, instead vying for Tanahashi who, for as great a performer as he is, was not in his prime and the story between Ibushi-Omega would have been concluded or at least cliffhung until a later date. That aside, the show killed. It was amazing, but you could see the writing was on the wall in terms of Omega, the Young Bucks, Adam Page leaving to start AEW in 2019.

That kind of takes it up to current day, or at least as close to it as possible. It was possibly a long-winded diatribe of saying ‘Yeah, I like Wrestling’ but I hope it helps people to understand what drives me to write about it, why I enjoy watching this often joked about form of entertainment and why I think people could probably appreciate it more.

My messages are open if anyone wants to ask me any questions about wrestling or share stories about your own experiences, favourite matches or even stories that you would like me to cover, and I will try and find something to contribute to the page if possible.

Please read through the posts, like and share if you enjoy and leave comments if you wish to appreciate, critique or contribute towards the stories if you know anything I may have missed out.

Thanks!

[rebeccabrynposts]

A SNEAK PEEK! Give Us This Day - The Merthyr Rising.

A SNEAK PEEK! Give Us This Day – The Merthyr Rising.

http://mybook.to/GiveUsThisDay It is said that in Merthyr Tydfil, in South Wales, the red flag of socialism was raised for the first time in Britain. It was 1831, and the men and women who worked in the coalfields and ironworks of the Welsh valleys joined together to protest against wage cuts and the unfair ‘truck system’ that forced workers to spend their wages in company shops at inflated…

[rabbit-trolls]

It's that time of year friends

[meta-squash]

I didn’t get my barricade day collage done because I had a migraine a lot of the afternoon but my idea has expanded further than just barricade day and Les Mis.

I was think of making a diptych collage of images from leftist/workers/civil rights protests and rebellions and revolutions all over the world. So far my list is:

1832 Paris rebellion, maybe 1848 French revolution, original BLM protests, Occupy, George Floyd BLM protests, Standing Rock, UK Miner’s Strike, Tiananmen Square, Rodney King riots, Wounded Knee incident, Mai 68, Mexico City 68, Stonewall, Spanish Civil War, Arab Spring, Selma to Montgomery marches, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Merthyr Rising, Black Power Revolution in Trinidad, Poznan protests, Athens Polytechnic Uprising, Gilets Jaunes protests, 1959 Tibetan uprising, Warsaw Uprising, 1876 April uprising in Bulgaria, Petroleum Revolution

Are there any more I should include? Are there any in this list I should remove?

Les Mis and Barricade Day was simply the inspiration for this. I might see if I can find revolutionary songs or slogans from these various points in history and intersperse them into the collage as well as some other text. I have a sort of image in my head of all the layering and imagery I want to do.

But I’m asking the Les Mis fandom for ideas/suggestions because I feel like a lot of you are big history buffs and will have input on my idea and what else I should/shouldn’t include.

[queerwelsh]

Merthyr Riots by Penry Williams, 1816.

People’s Collection Wales:

“This painting, produced by the Welsh artist, Penry Williams, when he was just 14 years old, shows the militia trying to restore order during the strike of 1816. At the time of this strike, relations between ironmasters and workers were at a very low ebb.  The working day was hard and long and the mines were hot and dangerous places in which to work.  Wages had been slashed at a time when the price of food was rising sharply.  With hungry families to feed and no money in their pockets, workers were driven to desperate measures.   The 1816 strike started at Tredegar ironworks as groups of men marched out towards Merthyr, stopping all the furnaces on the way.  As the rioters approached Dowlais, they were confronted by special constables, shots were fired, and Mary Morgan, the wife of the engineman at Penydarren steel works, was injured.  The crowd were furious and the constables fled to a place of safety.  The rioters went on to take over the ironworks in which they worked. These were worrying times for the ironmasters.  John Guest, owner of Dowlais Works, barricaded himself in his home while William Crawshay II, owner of Cyfarthfa Ironworks, took to the hills, taking refuge in a farmhouse!  In the end, troops were brought in to subdue the rioters and this painting captures that moment, showing the militia, with bayonets fixed, dispersing the crowd, while onlookers point at the scene.  The ironmasters agreed not to reduce wages any further, peace was eventually restored, and employers were more wary in future of introducing wage cuts. The painting brought Penry Williams to the attention of William Crawshay, who became the first great industrialist to patronize the young artist.  Williams went on to paint a series of watercolours depicting Cyfarthfa ironworks as well as the new Crawshay home, Cyfarthfa Castle.”

[thephantomofthelibrary]

The Merthyr Rising 1831

The Merthyr Rising of 1831 saw the workers of Merthyr Tydfil in Wales comes together to fight for political and social equality. It set a precedent for a series of Welsh riots and protests, becoming a rallying point for many Welsh working people and those with a left wing political persuasion or a desire for Welsh Independence. Some of those involved, such as Dic Penderyn, have become figure heads for political movements in Wales of today and the last few decades such as trade unions, devolution and independence. 

The Merthyr Rising was part of a wider scale of protests and riots across Britain relating to the failure of parliamentary reform to pass in parliament. However, the Merthyr Rising particularly raised a significant threat to the British establishment. It is thought to be one of the closest, if not the closest point that Wales came to revolution in the 19th century. 

You can read about the details of the rising, its precursors, events and ramifications in these series of posts below 

The Prelude to the Merthyr Rising (Long term causes) 

The Immediate Sparks of the Merthyr Rising (Short term causes)

The Events of the Merthyr Rising (1): 31 May -  June 1831 

The Events of the Merthyr Rising (2) 3 June - 6 June 1831 

The Aftermath of the Merthyr Rising