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2 Names in the Welsh Settlement
- University of Wisconsin Press
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2 Names in the Welsh Settlement Charles T. Roberts The Welsh immigrated to southern Wisconsin in the early 1840s. Around Rewey-along the Pecatonica River in Iowa and lafayette Counties-they were farmers, lead miners, and ferVent devotees of Congregational, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist churches. This account, set down by Charles Roberts in the early 1940s, concerns the Rewey 'Welsh Settlement" in the late nineteenth century and makes prominent mention of the Congregational church "Bryn Zion," the Calvinistic Methodist "Rock Church," and the Presbyterian "Carmel" and "Peniel" churches. Bryn means "hill" in Welsh, while Peniel, the name of the angel with whom the biblical Jacob wrestled, is a common one for Welsh Presbyterian churches, among them the Peniel church in Winnebago County, south of Oshkosh. Roberts also lauds his community's "good singers," a claim that is made repeatedly about Wisconsin's Welsh, invariably with reference to church choirs (e.g. Phillips G. Davies, Welsh in Wisconsin [Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1982], 3, 18-19; Fred Holmes, Old World Wisconsin [Eau Claire, Wise.: E. M. Hale, 1944], 197-210; and Helene Stratman-Thomas in Harry Peters, ed. and compiler, Folksongs Out of Wisconsin [Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1977], 24). When Charles Roberts was a young man, William R. Jones was the "song-master" at the Peniel Church, leading the congregation's singing of hymns in four-part harmony . At the close of the twentieth century the longstanding interdenominational Welsh song fest, or Gymanfa Ganu, remains a signi~cant institution among Wisconsin's Welsh, drawing participants from Rewey's Peniel to the Peniel Church in Winnebago County, and to the Cambria, Neenah , Oshkosh, Redgranite, and Wild Rose communities where they continue to sing hymns in Welsh and English. local historian Melva Knebel aptly preceded Roberts' account with an explanation of the many nicknames required in the Rewey Welsh community where so many people shared both surnames and given names, and where a Davies might marry a Davies, a Hughes a Hughes, a Jones a Jones, with none related to the other. One William Jones, who hailed from Cottage Inn, was called "Bill Cottage." Another William Jones was called "Bill the Mason" in association with his craft. And two Richard Jones of differing heights were dubbed "Big Dick" and "little Dick." Married women's nicknames combined their ~rst names with their husbands': Maggie Hughes was "Maggie Jim," Elizabeth James was "lizzie Sam," while John Jones' wife Elizabeth was "lizzie Jack." Welsh names were also given to Rewey farms and, in the case of two men named John Davis, farm names were invoked to distinguish one as "Davis Glyn" and the other as "Davis Tenona." The same Welsh names proliferated elsewhere in Wisconsin, as did nicknaming tactics. In the early 1940s Fred Holmes traveled to Cambria to locate John Jones, a prominent practitioner of Welsh traditions. There were thirty Joneses in the community, three of whom were Johns: 36 ROBERTS: Names in the Welsh Settlement 2.1. John Williams leading Welsh singers at a Gymanfa Ganu in the Peniel Church near Pickett, Winnebago County, 1946. State Historical Society of Wisconsin, WHi (X3) 38843. "Did you ever hear him called John Jones-Tannyralt?" inquired the cheesemaker, endeavouring to assist me. Upon my increasing bewilderment, he asked if I knew whether Mr. Jones lived on the brow of a hill. All the time the mystery was deepening for me. "I think you must want to see John E. Jones-Tannyralt," he added. "I will give you directions to his farm." "But, Iwant to visit John Jones, not John Jones-Tannyralt," Iprotested. '''Tannyralt' is just a handle on the Jones name far distinction," he interposed, drawing a rood map far me to follow. The map took Holmes where he wished to go. And after John and Annamary Jones had enjoyed a laugh over their visitor's confusion, Mrs. Jones explained: Almost every farm has a Welsh name.... Because our farm is under the slope of the hill, it has always been called "Tannyralt," which is the Welsh descriptive word far that location. And, so that our checks at the bank are properly charged, since there are so many Joneses, we use the farm name also in the signature. Not far from here are other farms with signi~cant names: Coed Mawr (the big woods); Treel Dolphin (a village in Wales); Ty Bricks (the brick house); "Snowden" (the highest mountain in Wales); Vron Haelog (sunny slope) and Tanybwlch (brow of a hill). (Holmes...