This is a good, old-fashioned love story which I thoroughly enjoyed. Allen Raine, the pseudonym of the Welsh novelist Anne Adalisa Beynon Puddicombe (1836-1908), was a best-selling author who had sold over 1 million copies of her novels by 1906. The subtitle of this 1906 book is A Tale of the Welsh Revival and that phenomenon had a crucial part to play in the story.
The Welsh Revival owed much to the preaching skill of Evan Roberts (1878-1951), who began studying for the Ministry in 1904. Believing in 'Baptism of the Spirit', he was soon attracting congregations numbering thousands. The four main points of his Message were - Confess all known sin, receiving forgiveness through Jesus Christ; Remove anything in your life that you are in doubt or feel unsure about; Be ready to obey the Holy Spirit instantly; Publicly confess the Lord Jesus Christ. Meetings lasted for hours but from the start there was a sense of the conviction of Sin. Wrongdoing was confessed and lifestyles were affected. Roberts would sometime agonise for hours before saying anything. He soon succumbed to the pressure of his rigorous schedule and, in 1906, suffered a physical and emotional collapse. He retained his faith though he clearly suffered from depression. He turned to prayer as his main ministry. Although he convalesced in England, he lived out his last years in Cardiff and died in relative obscurity in 1951, aged 72.
Allen Raine skilfully meshes the Revival into one of the main strands of her novel. It starts with a small boat sinking off the little Cardigan hamlet of Tregildas (Gildas town or home), leaving two orphans - Gwenifer Owen aged 10 and Gildas Rees aged 16. The latter becomes owner of Scethryg, the farm owning most of the little thatched cottages in the area. Gwenifer is allowed to stay in her lonely hut on the moor, after Gildas refuses to send her to the Workhouse. She has been struck dumb after watching the tragedy of her mother drowning and clings to Gildas, her mishteer, determined to work for him as she grows older and more useful in the daily farm work. Into this mix comes Hezekiah Morgan, an old man once a well-regarded school master, but now broken in health. He takes up lodging in the loft of a Scethryg outbuilding. He had brought with him his grand-daughter, Nance, referred to as a wilful child with volatile ways.
By the start of Chapter III, eight years have rolled by; Gildas is now a strapping young man of 24, Gwenifer a mute aged 18; and Nance Ellis a buxom young woman, the little elf-like child no longer. Alas for Gwenifer, Gildas desires a wife to share my home with me, to brighten the hearth, to make it cosy as thou hast made this (her hut). The chapter, which deals with first her hopes and then her disappointment when she realises he means Nance, is quite moving. Gildas and Nance marry but any happiness is short-lived. It is soon clear that his wife has no real affection for him, but is passionately caught up in two unbridled loves: for Captain Jack Davies, a seafaring ladies' man and the Revival going on in Brynzion, the little hamlet chapel.
The effect of the Revival and the coming of Evan Roberts to Brynzion is catastrophic for Nance. Already clearly a mercurial character, her religious fervour becomes a frenzy, a frenzy which turns into active dislike, a narrowing gleam of hatred, for her husband. Poor Nance! She was ill at ease, and had lost the buoyancy and spirit which had been her chief charm. Her face had lost some of its fresh colouring, too, and there were dark rings under her eyes; for though the mind may not be deep enough for harassing thoughts, the heart may not still lie open to the ravages of stormy passions and insidious temptations. And Captain Jack was just the man for these. However, he had only engaged in flirtations with her and really desired the mute Gwenifer.
The author (and this reader) is far more in tune with Gildas' approach to the Revival: I am not against it; may be 'tis wanted; but I am against these wild ways - people showing their hearts to the world, and crying out that they are sinners! There's no need to shout that, 'tis plain enough when you come to deal with them... The villagers turn against him, especially the shrew Nelli Amos, because of this ungodly attitude. Evan Davis preaches in the little chapel - Chapter XII entitled 'Upliftings' tells of this in some of the author's best writing - and Nance, empowered by her mania, leaves the farm to sail away with the Captain. First Gildas, then Gwenifer try to stop her. Captain Jack refuses her and she is forced back to the shore and runs amok off into the moor. Whilst fending off Gwenifer, a seeming miracle occurs. The latter actually cries out Oh, dear God. She speaks again!
Gildas now has to put up with a double whammy: he is despised as one not captured by the Revival and there is a suspicion he has murdered Nance. Luckily a few have decency still: You must forgive our zeal for religion; it has made us over hasty, lad. We forgot that 'the wind bloweth where it listeth'; and though it blow like a gale over Brynzion, it may whisper like a still small voice in the heart. Yes, yes, you have friends... In fact, Nance is not the drowned wretch later found on the beach and she returns, clad in rags, bent with fatigue. She doesn't last long, but clearly Gildas had not murdered her! However, battered by the animosity that had been all around him, Gildas plans to emigrate to Canada. He goes to Gwenifer's hut to tell her - finding she has packed to go with him, as his servant! Thou hast been my sister, my friend, but never my servant, lass; and that thou canst never be...because I love thee, lass; because I cannot bear to be near thee unless thou wilt promise to be my wife. And they agree to bide at Scethryg. Hurrah! It doesn't feel treacly or false. The whole novel was, yes, moving to that denouement, but Raine has written so well that it emerges realistically. Her characters are vibrant and true to life and the uplifting last few paragraphs fit the entire story perfectly.
It is helpful that the few Welsh words used are listed in a Glossary at the front of the book.
No comments:
Post a Comment