Llanddwyn

Just before our arrival at Bangor, our journey detours again, this time crossing over the magnificent suspension bridge built by Telford in l826 over the Menai Straits into the island of Anglesey (Sir Fon). We are on our way to visit the place most sacred to lovers, LLandddwyn (the Church of St. Dwynwen). On the southwest tip of the island, across from the little town of Newborough, we come to a little promontory jutting out from a vast expanse of sands and forest that makes up a nature reserve: Ynys Llanddwyn. The area is famous to geologists for its pre-Cambrian rocks, among the oldest in Britain. We are here, however, not to admire the rock formations, but to find the ruined l6th Century church that was built on the spot where Dwynwen, patron saint of lovers, found her retreat in the 5th Century. It was Edward Williams, the imaginative stonemason from Llancarfan, who gave the legend of Dwynwen to his eager listeners in the London Welsh community of the late l8th Century.

According to Williams, who is far better known by his bardic title Iolo Morgannwg, the Welsh people had a host of traditions and cultural gifts that needed telling to the rest of the world, even if he had to invent some of them himself. Many of the much-loved traditions of the present-day Eisteddod, in fact, date back only to l792 when the fertile brain of Williams came up with the creation of the Gorsedd, the assembly of the poets, musicians, literary people and others that has played such a major part in the survival of Welsh culture ever since.

St. Dynwen's Day is celebrated on January 25th. For the Welsh-speaking, it replaces St. Valentine's Day as the day to send flowers and greetings to loved ones (a point not unnoticed by today's publishers of greeting cards). To his no doubt spellbound listeners at meetings of the London Cymmrodorion Society, Iolo Morgannwg told the story of Dwynwen's rejection of the sexual advances of her swain Maelon. Though in love with Maelon, Dwynwen's wish to remain chaste led her to dream that God offered her a sweet drink that would turn her suitor to ice and free her from her bonds to him. She was then granted three wishes. one to revive Maelon; two, to become the patron saint of lovers; and three, never to marry. What happened to the poor love-struck Maelon we will never know, but a miraculous spring appeared at the spot where Dwynwen had her dream, Ffynnon Dwynwen. In the spring, located in what is now a very difficult to locate spot on the tidal beach, fishes were said to reveal the fate of the love sick.

It is now time to retrace our journey back to the mainland and to the city of Bangor.