Loyalty, harmony & hilarity: the jubilee in Wales

To celebrate the latest leg of the Diamond Jubilee tour, the Queen's visit to Cardiff and south Wales, here's a taste of how the Welsh celebrated George III's jubilee in 1809. The quotations are taken from An Account of the Celebration of the Jubilee, compiled in 1810.

Cardiff, Glamorganshire

The Vice-Lieutenant of the county, the High Sheriff, the Corporation, the Cardiff Troop of Cavalry, and the Military stationed there, attended divine service; and the day was afterwards spent with the greatest loyalty, harmony, and hilarity, there being two public dinners — the High Sheriff presided at one of them, and Captain Wood at the other. The Local Militia, quartered at Cardiff, were liberally regaled with roast beef, plum-pudding, and Welsh ale, at the expense of their Officers.

Further north in Snowdonia, in Dolemelynllyn, Merionethshire,

Mr. Bowes, of Dolemelynllyn, called together upwards of 120 peasants, with their wives and children,and feasted them on the grass-plot before his house, while he and his friends enjoyed the spectacle. The following letter, containing an account of the proceedings at Dolemelynllyn, to the editor of a provincial paper, may be interesting to many persons, as a picture of the gratification experienced by the lower orders of society upon this truly joyful occasion.

Sir, Being a farmer of the poorest kind, near Dolgelley, our market town, where I usually go once a week on business, and in the evening, over a pint of ale, hear your newspaper read, which last week contained an abundance of news about the feastings and rejoicings at every place, and finding nothing about our feast at Dolemelynllyn, which strangers say is a beautiful place, where now lives (God be thanked for it!) Mr. Bowes, his wife, and two daughters, all strangers in this country, but who, ever since they have lived here, have done everything in their power to make their poor neighbours happy.

Please, Sir, to tell the world, that these gentlefolks did, on the Jubilee day, invite me, and above 120 more persons, who were poor and in low condition like myself, to a feast on a green before their house; we had beef, mutton pies, and puddings, such nice ones too, as few of the feasters ever tasted, or even saw before, and plenty, plenty of them. I thought my children, Evan and Lowry, never would have stopped eating. The gentleman and his friends stood behind our chairs, along with the common servants, without the least pride in the world; they would give us all clean knives and plates to eat our pudding. When the board was cleared, on came plenty of ale and then the King's health, with three hurras. Next we were took to a large room, where the young folks danced until past midnight; in the meantime we had plenty of ale and cold meat. Never was such a happy day, never, never. God bless the founder !