Our travelling Library called this morning, and I took out a couple of books about the history of Wales in general and Carmarthenshire in particular.
I came across a page with some photographs of people committed to Carmarthen Gaol, with details of their offences. I always thought of Victorian Carmarthenshire folk as God-fearing hard-working people, many of them getting their living from the land. However, in the towns it would appear that life was sometimes more . . . colourful . . . for beside the 15 year old lad who stole a pair of boots worth 4 shillings (this was 1870) and a 64 year old man who had stabbed someone, was Daniel Griffiths, 74, born in Laugharne, 5'4" tall and with a healthy complexion, who, on May 12th 1870, was committed to Gaol. His offence? B*ggery with an ass (I presume it was a donkey . . .)
What? No sheep??????
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Eek! Poor donkey. It sounds like a fascinating book. Funny they recorded he had a 'healthy complexion'.
ReplyDeleteErrrr! The forthrightness with which the offense is described seems at odds with Victorian euphemism. I've sometimes wondered if most Americans who casually call someone a "bugger" know the connotation [?]
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