(Untitled)

[essayel]

It's been a year or two since I used to do 'how to build a castle' tours around the pile I work in so I'd forgotten a lot of the details. I was cheered today to remind my self that in 1278 and under the orders of Edward 1st [one of our scarier monarchs] the steward of Abergavenny sent 19 carpenters and 28 men with shovels to build the castle in

Comments

[metallumai]

Doooo it! I'll help!

[essayel]

:D it could be YA

[yakalskovich]

Fiction or non-fiction?

[essayel]

It would have to be fiction, I think.

[yakalskovich]

Then it'll probably have to join the queue.

[jessie_lansdel]

Yeah go on, do it. Wales has such a rich and turbulent and tragic history. And you're right, Edward 1 was a rotter at times. Locking ladies up in cages and the like.

[essayel]

It'll have to join the queue. At the last count I had 37 story ideas :(

[sandra_lindsey]

:-D

Edward I was definitely not someone I'd want to come across myself. Growing up in the Northern Marches (ooh, I like that term!) I couldn't help but be aware of his looming presence in history. Our 'local' castle was built by Dafydd ap Gruffudd (brother of Llewellyn the Last), with money from Edward I, and I don't know if it's because of the local connection or because of what happened later but I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Dafydd... on the other hand, you can probably quote me chapter & verse on exactly what kind of weaselly character he really was!

[essayel]

I grew up on the Western Marches so was far more aware of Offa :D

Don't know much about Dafydd, poor soul, other than the horrible way he died. Edward really was a monster.

[sandra_lindsey]

He changed sides several times, but ended up fighting for Wales.
I read somewhere that making war on the King of England wasn't a crime of treason until Edward decided it was so in order to punish Dafydd... possibly I'm half-remembering it though, and it's that it wasn't treason if you were a Welshman?

[stevie_carroll]

Now there's a story...

[essayel]

mmmm shovels! :D