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
• click here to read the full account

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.