With this Welsh ring ...
QUESTION No gold has been mined in Wales for many years, so where did the Welsh gold used for Prince Harry and Meghan’s wedding rings come from? THE royal custom of using Welsh gold for wedding rings began with the donation of a nugget by Mr Bartholemew, the owner of Clogau mine in Bontddu, near Dolgellau, North Wales, to the Royal Family.
It was presented to the late Queen Mother when, as Lady Elizabeth BowesLyon, she married George V’s second son, Bertie, the Duke of York (later George VI) at Westminster Abbey in 1923.
Welsh gold has been used for royal brides ever since. The Queen’s wedding ring in 1947, Princess Margaret’s in 1960, the Princess Royal’s in 1973 and that of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1981 were made from Mr Bartholemew’s original nugget.
In November 1981, the Royal British Legion donated a 36g piece of 21- carat Welsh gold from the same mine for future royal wedding rings.
Part of this went into making Sarah, Duchess of York’s ring in 1986, the Duchess of Cornwall’s ring in 2005 and Kate Middleton’s ring in 2011.
The Duchess of Cambridge’s plain, slim gold band was made by royal warrant holders Wartski. Prince William chose to forgo a ring.
Meghan Markle’s ring was made from a gift of Welsh gold from the Queen to the royal newlyweds. However, Prince Harry’s ring is made of brushed platinum, leading to speculation that Meghan’s will be the last pure Welsh ring.
Clogau, sometimes known as Clogau St David’s, was once the largest and richest of all the gold mines in Dolgellau.
Originally a copper and lead mine, a gold rush in 1862 saw it become a major operator until 1911. It’s been calculated that during this time, 165,031 tons of gold ore was mined, resulting in 78,507 troy ounces (2,442 kg) of gold.
Since 1911, the mine has been re-opened several times for smaller-scale operations. It last closed in 1998.
The scarcity of pure Welsh gold makes it highly desirable. On November 28, 2017, ten lots of Clogau gold, mined under Precious: Meghan’s wedding jewellery. Inset: The moment Harry put the band of pure Welsh gold on her finger government lease between 1979 and 1981, were expected to fetch £9,000 at auction. However, they went for almost five times that amount, fetching £44,000.
Today, a company called Clogau markets a range of Welsh gold jewellery. However, due to the scarcity, only a small amount of the precious metal is included in each piece.
Ian Rowe, Harlech, Merioneth.
QUESTION What are the worst lines of poetry written by a great poet?
SHAKESPEARE wrote a short poem for his tomb, exhorting others to leave his body in peace: ‘Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forebeare To digg the dust enclosed heare; Bleste be the man that spares thes stones, And curst be he that moves my bones.’
John Donne, the 16th century Metaphysical poet, married the 16-yearold niece of his patron, Sir Thomas Egerton, without his permission and was thrown into prison, causing him to write: ‘John Donne, Anne Donne, Un-done.’ He was released and the couple spent many happy years together, producing 12 children in 16 years. S. J. Kitching, London W1. IN HIS 1798 poem The Thorn, William Wordsworth originally wrote the prosaic lines: ‘Of water — never dry I measured it
from side to side: ’Twas four feet long, and three feet wide.’ He realised that this was not up to scratch and ditched the lines. However, the following was retained: ‘Unthinking Stephen went — Poor Martha! on that woeful day A cruel, cruel fire, they say, Into her bones was sent: It dried her body like a tinder, And almost turned her brain to cinder.’
Wordsworth was a repeat offender. This poem Baffled — Anecdote For Fathers has the mundane lines: ‘Now, little Edward, say why so: My little Edward, tell me why.’ — ‘I cannot tell, I do not know.’ — ‘Why, this is strange,’ said I. It is indeed baffling.’ Jonathan Moss, Banbury, Oxon. EVEN the greats have their off days. John Keats in 1819’s To Autumn has: ‘And full- grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn’ (surely full-grown lambs are sheep). Samuel Taylor Coleridge, author of the wonderful Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, dropped the ball when writing i Christobel in 1800: ‘Is ‘ the night chilly and dark? The night is chilly, but not dark.’
And Shakespeare, the genius of English literature, let himself down with the banal final couplet of Macbeth: ‘So, thanks to all at once and to each one Whom we invite to see us crown’d at Scone.’
Andrew Motion was made Poet Laureate in 1999 and penned a memorably awful rap poem to celebrate Prince William’s 21st birthday in 2003: ‘Better stand back Here’s an age attack, But the second in line Is dealing with it fine.’ Jason Dobbs, Stroud, Glos. QUESTION The new internet buzzword is gaslighting? What does it mean? THE earlier answer explained that gaslighting is a way in which abusers manipulate their victims to doubt their own grasp on reality.
Patients in the early stages of dementia can behave like gaslighting victims.
They may experience objects in the house moving, appearing and disappearing and new items suddenly appearing without explanation.
The patients exhibit the same sort of fear as gaslighting victims and may accuse friends and relations of playing tricks on them.
The reality is that they themselves have moved the items, but have no recollection of doing so. New items may be gifts they can’t remember receiving.
Phil Alexander, Farnborough, Hants.
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