Glenys James speaks to A. H. (Nan) Davies. (part 1)

Description

Glenys talks to A. H. (Nan) Davies about her extraordinary experiences of coming to and living in, Canada. Often having to fend for herself whilst her husband was out at work, Nan describes her gruelling and harrowing journey into the Rocky Mountains carrying her baby and 7 months pregnant. She became fascinated by the wilderness and developed a true appreciation of the flora and fauna of the area, including racoons, skunks, and bears. She describes her existence at that time as being a fight for life, and so holding on to things like Welsh customs was deemed unnecessary. The camp in which they lived was a melting pot from Americans to Polish people, and so there was little opportunity to practice Welsh traditions. Nan does however describe the Welsh influences that can be seen in the area such as the bridges by Alf James (originally from Cardiff) and his discovery of the Miette hot springs. She recalls an occasion where she sang a music hall number, ‘Queen of the Earth,’ to ward a bear away from her. She had originally learnt the song to sing in Eisteddfodau back in Wales. A true character, she even pretended to be a man to go down the coalmine to play a joke on one of her neighbours! After moving to Edmonton, Alberta Nan was able to re-join the Welsh music community and Welsh society to feed her love for Welsh music. She also describes how the Welsh community gave their time and skills to build the Cambrian Hall in Edmonton.