Wooden Objects

We’re sure that you can think of many images surrounding us at the moment, in shops and in the media, associated with the Easter holiday:  colourful chocolate eggs, fluffy chicks and rabbits, white lillies and simnel cakes to name but a few.

But can you guess what the two wooden objects in the images on the right are?

Easter Customs

This week I have been listening to recordings in the Sound Archive relating to Easter Customs.  We have oral testimony on a wide variety of traditions:  holding “eisteddfods”; “creu gwely Crist” (creating Christ’s bed); singing Easter carols; cutting hair and trimming the beard on Maundy Thursday in order to look tidy for the Easter weekend; eating fish, “hongian bwnen” and walking to church barefooted on Good Friday; drinking water from a well with brown sugar on the Saturday before Easter; climbing a mountain to see the sun “dancing” at daybreak and wearing new clothes on Easter Sunday; playing “cnapan” (a game of Welsh hurling using a ball of hard wood) on the Sunday following Easter.

“Clapio Wyau” (“Egg Clapping”)

But the custom that really caught my attention was the practice of going “egg clapping” on Anglesey.  Going egg clapping before Easter was an extremely popular tradition among children years ago and the images on the right show the wooden egg clappers that the children would carry with them.

According to Elen Parry who was born in Gaerwen in 1895 and recorded by the Museum in 1965:

We would usually have an hour or two off school, maybe a day or two before the school would close so that we could go clapping before Easter.  You would nearly be doing it throughout the week, but there was one special day when the school would let you go clapping for an hour or two.  Nearly everybody would go clapping.  You’re father would have made you what we would call a ”clapper”.  And what was that?  A piece of wood with two more pieces either side so that it would “clap”, and that’s what a “clapper” was.

The children would travel around local farms (or any homestead that kept chickens).  They would knock on the door, shake their clappers and recite a short rhyme similar to this one:

Clap, clap, os gwelwch chi’n dda ga’i wŷ

Clap, clap, please may I have an egg

Geneth fychan (neu fachgen bychan) ar y plwy’

Young girl (or young boy) on the parish

And here’s another version of the rhyme from Huw D. Jones, Gaerwen:

Clep, Clep dau wŷ

Clap, Clap, two eggs

Bachgen bach ar y plwy’

Young boy on the parish

The door would be opened and the occupier would ask “And who do you belong to?”  After the children had answered, they would each receive an egg.  According to Elen Parry:

You would either have a small pitcher, a small can, or a basket with straw or grass on the bottom.  And then everybody would get an egg.  Well, by the time you’d finished, you might have a basket full of eggs.

The inhabitants of the home would usually recognise the children and if a brother or sister was missing, they would place an extra egg in the basket for siblings.  Mary Davies, from Bodorgan, born in 1894 and recorded by the Museum in 1974 recalls:

And if the family in the house knew these small children, knew their siblings, and some were missing, they would also give them an egg for those brothers or sisters.

Eggs on the Dresser

Having returned home, the children would give their mother the eggs and she would place them on the dresser.  The eldest child’s egg would be placed on the top shelf, the second eldest’s egg on the second shelf and so on.

With plenty of energy and determination, an impressive haul of eggs could be had.  Joseph Hughes, born in Beaumaris in 1880 and recorded by the Museum in 1959 remembers:

Some would be quite brazen-faced and would have been clapping solidly throughout the week.  They would have a hundred and twenty eggs.  I remember asking my wife’s brother, “Did you go clapping, Wil?”, “Well, yes”, he said.  “How well did you do?”, “Oh, I only got a hundred and fifty”.

A Type of Begging?

Even though most people would give the children eggs, some would refuse and answer the door with a disgruntled “Mae’r ieir yn gori” (“The hens are brooding”) or “Dydy’r gath ddim wedi dodwy eto” (“The cat hasn’t laid eggs yet”).  Some parents would also be wary of allowing their children to go clapping, considering it to be a type of begging.  This is what one interviewee had to say:

My father would never be happy for us to go because everybody knew who my father was.  Well, my father never liked the fact that we had been begging at doors, but we would still go

Revival

It’s great to see that the tradtion of clapping is now enjoying a revival on Anglesey.  It seems, for one week only, it’s still safe and acceptable in Wales to put all your eggs in one basket.

2020 marks the National Waterfront Museum’s 10 year anniversary of working with the pupils and staff at Ysgol Pen Y Bryn

The National Waterfront Museum prides itself on the work that it does with the local community and schools within Swansea. These collaborations come in many different forms, from our GRAFT community garden to our innovative ‘my primary school is at the Museum’ programme. Our collaboration with Ysgol Pen Y Bryn is our longest running and a source of continual pride for the Museum.

The Museum and the school first came together in 2010 for a project named ‘Behind the Grey Doors’ which aimed to give a ‘behind the scenes’ look at the work that goes on at the Museum. The project gave an insight into everything from how our exhibitions are created to the operation of our Museum shop. Pupils from Pen Y Bryn interviewed staff at the Museum to find out what exactly it takes to run a Museum. The project was hugely enjoyable and beneficial for both the school and the Museum not only for its end product, a wonderful exhibition, but the journey towards it. Teachers and staff both noted the effect that the project had on pupils. Those who may have been tentative in the Museum at first were transformed by the end to feel more comfortable at home amongst the public and the exhibitions. This sense of ownership is something the Museum strives for in all of our community programmes.

The pupils and staff at Pen Y Bryn are a continual source of inspiration for all of us at the Museum. ‘Behind the Grey door’ gave us an insight into their amazing creativity and passion. Everyone at the Museum was keen to continue the work and Ysgol Pen Y Bryn have continued  to amaze us with their creativity. Each project has been more inspiring that the last. Projects have included the creation of books on subjects ranging from Swansea Football club to superheroes. The collaboration with huge organisations such as comic book studios and football’s club illustrates how the enthusiasm of the staff and pupils is infectious. They have also created films that have been voiced by everybody from Joanna Lumley to Michael Sheen. The galas that launch these films hosted at the Odeon in Swansea are a true celebration of all the hard work that goes into these projects, and the big screen occasion a reflection of the amazing talents of all those at Pen Y Bryn. All of the proceeds gained from the sales of books and dvds relating to the projects have benefitted local charities such as Ty Hafan.

Working with the school has helped the Museum to improve the support it provides to individuals with special educational needs. A ‘chill out room’ was created in the  Museum, with staff at Pen-Y-Bryn advising on the project. The room, similar to facilities they have at the school, offers a safe space for anybody who needs to take a moment.

To celebrate staff at the Museum have created an exhibition that celebrates all of the projects of the past ten years and the amazing objects that have created as part of them. Dethlu Deg marks ten years of working with Ysgol Pen Y Bryn and everybody here looks forward to ten more!

Stuck at home? Lots of us at the Museum are too, but although we may have temporarily shut our doors to visitors during the Covid-19 outbreak, we still have lots of fantastic goodies for you to savour from the comfort of your own home.

So, how are you feeling?

Feeling confined? Spare a thought for Tim Peake who was hauled up in the tiny Soyuz TMA-19M capsule with two of his crewmates Yuri Malenchenko and Tim Kopra as he descended back to Earth from the International Space Station back in 2015. Although the journey was just under three and a half hours, this little confined capsule saved his life. Remember: staying in your house right now can save lives too.

Feeling peckish? With Easter just around the corner, how about this 100-year-old Easter egg? Not your thing? How about this compilation of traditional Welsh recipes. I'll give the Oatmeal Gruel a miss, Eldeberry Wine however... now you're talking!

Feeling curious? Ever wondered why Jones is such a popular Welsh surname? Check it out now, in a minute.

Feeling arty? Why not try your hand at some botanical illustration.

Feeling adventurous? Take a trip underground at Big Pit National Coal Museum and experience life as a real miner.

Feeling nostalgic? Take this opportunity to snoop around some of the houses at St Fagans National Museum of History whilst no one’s watching!

Feeling crafty? Print out and make this paper calculator.

Feeling blue*? Mix things up with some natural colour inspiration from our mineral and crystal collection.

Feeling fabulous? Check out this spectacular, and very old, Bronze Age gold bling; some perfect pieces to compliment your work-from-home attire.

Feeling stiff from sitting at your home desk? Time to take a break and follow these simple stretching exercises. Plus, here are some tips on sitting correctly in front of your computer to prevent aches and pains.

Feeling active? How many times can you run up and down the stairs before your kettle boils? One, two, three, go!...

Feeling poorly? Then all of us here at the Museum wish you a hastly and speedy recovery. Get well soon! x

Not sure how you feel? Then we have over half a million other possibilities to whet your interest, fire your imagination and scratch that curiosity itch... go have a rummage!

* The meaning of this phrase may come from old deepwater sailing ships: if a captain or officers died at sea then a blue flag was flown, or a blue strip painted on the hull of the ship when returning to port. Find out more about the psychology of colour.

My name is James and I just want to sketch out a typical day as a part of the Volunteer Book Project in St Fagans.

We’re a small group, one of many in the museum, that has been running for over a year. Our group was set up to raise funds for St Fagans’ grounds by selling second hand books.

Usually, we go into the museum once a week. Communication with one another is straightforward, using a Whatsapp group. Someone from the group will decide a day to go in, the rest of us will say yay or nay. It’s very flexible. More often or not, there are a bunch of us in at any time and over the past year have developed a good working bond and friendship with one another.

We have two locations where we sell our books in the museum, Y Gegin, the main cafe, and Gweithdy, the crafts’ cafe and we’re very excited, too, because we’ve just found out that a space in the Buttery Cafe, which will be opening soon, is going to be available to us to sell books. Also, every cafe has its own particular subject, so if you are in the museum, try and visit them all if you can.

Our job is to keep the supply of good quality books for sale on display. Our generous donations from visitors keep the volume of turn over very fast, which has brought in a high amount of collection money. So far we have raised £3,000 from the project and the money is set to be spent on arches with integral seating for the Rose Garden and also to plant some extra trees nearby.

After picking up the stacks of books from the reception area, and checking what gaps there are to fill in the cafe, we make our way over to our little store room (in Tŷ Gwyrdd), walking and chatting as we pass along the path under the trees. You’ll hear the rumbling of our crate a long way off.

Sorting through the books is always interesting because we receive quite a diverse range of subjects, from popular fiction to highly specialist topics. Whatever we pick up, we price them, discuss them, keeping a close eye on what is selling well and what isn’t. The whole process is quite stimulating. We’re pretty much in charge of the whole running of the books project. It’s nice that St Fagans shows that level of trust in its volunteers.

Once we have gathered enough books to fill the empty spaces in the shelves, we rumble on over to the cafes to get the books out on display. We like to keep a check on how well books sell. For instance, we will photograph the shelves before and after a shift and also make a little pencilled note of the month the book goes on display. This information helps us to tailor our selections as much as possible to the tastes of the many varied people who visit St Fagans. Also, a few of our members have started selling some of our rarer books on eBay, so that we can maximize the funds we collect to be spent on adding more beautiful features to the museum.

A typical day lasts around three hours. At the end we all sign out at the reception desk with a satisfying feeling that there are a fresh load of low-priced and good quality books out for sale. It’s a rewarding role and we always feel appreciated by the museum for our work. There is a sense of belonging here and it’s really opened my eyes to new things.

After the UK Government took the decision to place much more severe restrictions on our lives and work due to Covid-19 – a demonstration of care for our health - we had to close all of Wales’ national museums almost immediately.

In just four days, teams across the organisation implemented the shut-down with extraordinary speed and efficiency. I am so grateful for their united and dedicated response to the extreme challenge we have faced, in what is in effect a national emergency.

I know that for very many of us, including me, closing our museums, leaving our offices and losing our day by day contact with our colleagues and friends has been an emotional and upsetting experience. But we have done it to protect the safety of our staff, our volunteers and our visitors.

We now have protocols in place at each of our museums to meet all the eventualities we can think of, and swift channels of communication to manage operations through the Duty Manager and Duty Director.

Yesterday was the second day where I was Duty Director and Bethan Lewis, Head of St Fagans National Museum of History was Duty Manager.

We worked with a dedicated pool of staff who will be managing the security of our seven national museums, collections, buildings and other public property. Our particular thanks go to them, IT, Finance, HR, Heads of Sites and the staff of other departments who have worked so hard to ensure that the Museum can continue to operate in these very difficult circumstances.

We will also keep in regular contact with all of the Amgueddfa Cymru family as they carry on as best they can to work from home.

We know that communication is harder when we cannot meet each other in person, and only remotely through a computer or a phone. I urge Amgueddfa Cymru staff and others to keep in touch with the people you work with regularly, especially if you have not heard from them for a while.