Voyage à pied dans le nord du pays de Galles

Name of traveller

Adolphe Thiébault (1797-1875)

Reason for travel

• landscape painting

Date of travel

11-28 September 1827

Cette magnifique chute d’eau, au milieu des bois, dans une solitude profonde, vaut, à elle seule le voyage. C’est la plus belle du pays de Galles – malgré le bruit sourd qu’on entend de loin et qui ressemble à celui de la mer, j’eus quelque peine à y arriver, mais enfin quelle ne fut pas ma surprise! avant d’essayer d’emporter son image dans mon album, je demeurai pendant quelques minutes immobile d’admiration. (Thiébault, vol2 25 Sep. 1827)

Content

• agriculture: cows are of small stature
• architecture: shows interest in modern bridges and aqueducts and produces detailed ink drawings of the newly-built Menai Suspension Bridge
• art:
  • production of detailed landscape sketches and maps in watercolour and inkwash during the journey; manuscript volumes are illustrated throughout
  • account contains lyrics and notation for some Welsh songs
• clothing:
  • wears comparatively shappy travel attire
  • some references to the clothing of local people; brief description of women's costume and hats, no shoes
• customs:
  • compliments Welsh hospitality
  • interested in Welsh folk tunes and harp music, notes employment of harpists in hotels
  • description of eisteddfodau as an assembley of bards
• diet: inns in which he stays serve salmon, lamb, mutton and chicken
• history:
  • contains some notes on Welsh history since Roman invasions
  • mentions Owain Glynd?r (1359-1416) sending letters to King of France to support the rebellion
• industry: some notes on slate industry in north Wales and size of the workforce employed at Penrhyn Quarries
• language:
  • account contains a brief Welsh-English glossary of elements in Welsh place names
  • few people speak English
  • faces occasional difficulties in communicating with local people
  • encounters a sign in Welsh and English forbidding trespassing
• literature: contains a list of Anglophone travel literature and tours in Wales
• people:
  • account contains a newspaper cutting announcing the death of Eleanor Charlotte Butler (1739-1829)
  • references Mme de Genlis (1746-1830) visiting the Ladies of Llangollen, Eleanor Charlotte Butler and Sarah Ponsonby (1755-1831)
  • occasionally travels in pleasant company with other tourists, some of whom speak French
  • believes to have briefly travelled in the company of William Wordsworth (1770-1850) according to a note in his own hand inserted into the manuscript years later
  • at one point is scared by an encounter with two men who seem to follow him and whom he presumes are beggars or Irishmen
• recreation:
  • compliments the quality and relative density of inns and hotels
  • contains a list with the names of inns in which he stopped
  • occassionally hires local guides
• terrain:
  • notes picturesque qualities of north Wales mountains; many notes on geographical features
  • charts intinerary on a map
  • predominant interest in waterfalls; many notes on the effect of heavy rain on the waterfalls and torrents
• transport:
  • modes of travel: mostly on foot; boat; post chaise
  • walks along the road between Bangor and Conwy newly opened just a week earlier
  • frequent references to the realities of pedestrian travel across country and in all sorts of weather; often walks through streams and torrential rains
  • sometimes walks over 20 miles per day
• to read the full account click on the following links: volume 1, volume 2

Nationality of traveller

French

Language of publication

French, English, Welsh

Gender of traveller

Male

Type of publication

illustrated travelogue

Citation

Thiébault, Adolphe. Voyage à pied dans le nord du pays de Galles. Books 14.1-2. 1827. Thiébault Family mss., 1733-1872, bulk 1793-1872. Lilly Library, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington. MS.