L’Irlande et le pays de Galles: esquisses de voyages, d'économie politique, d'histoire, de biographie, de littérature

Name of traveller

Amédée Pichot (1795–1877)

Reason for travel

  • travelling as cultural tourist, self-improvement

Date of travel

1844

Rien de plus original d’ailleurs que le type des femmes de Swansea, surtout celles de la classe pauvre ; la plupart marchent jambes nues et pieds déchaussés, se drapant les épaules, l’une avec un tablier, l’autre avec un mantelet rouge, bleu ou gris ; mais toutes, et la plus misérable comme la moins déguenillée, ayant sur la tête un chapeau d’homme. (Pichot 150)

Content

  • architecture:
    • picturesque style of ruined castles
  • clothing: notes on female dress and women's tall hats
  • customs
    • notes custom of planting flowers on graves in Carmarthen
    • describes coracles
  • history: notes loss of Welsh independence and draws comparison with Scotland and Ireland
  • language: receives first Welsh lesson from a girl on the boat
  • literature:
    • Welsh literature is relatively unknown because it is written in Welsh; contrasted with cases of Robert Burns (1759-1796) and Walter Scott (1771-1832) in Scotland
    • frequent references to English Romantic poetry, e.g. George Gordon Byron (1788-1824) and Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892)
    • references to the Welsh Triads and Charlotte Guest's (1812-1895) translation of The Mabinogion
  • people: the Welsh described as more docile than Scottish or Irish
  • politics: long passages on contemporary politics; frequent references to the Rebecca Riots; notes an underlying democratic principle and connections with Methodism
  • recreation:
    • Swansea caters for tourists, compared to Dieppe
    • hiring of local guides, especially to step off the beaten track
  • terrain: picturesque landscapes and little villages
  • transport:
    • modes of travel: boat from Bristol to Swansea (that contains a selection of religious books for passengers), horse carriage
    • notes existence of tollgates and previous Rebecca Riots
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Nationality of traveller

French

Language of publication

French

Gender of traveller

Male

Type of publication

travelogue

Citation

Pichot, Amédée. L’Irlande et le pays de Galles: esquisses de voyages, d'économie politique, d'histoire, de biographie, de littérature etc. Paris: Guillaumin, 1850. 134-95. Print.