Song of the Earth is a novel by Alexander Cordell, first published in 1969. It is the final book of Cordell's "Mortymer Trilogy". [1]
The novel is Cordell's third book in the lives of the Mortymer family, after Rape of the Fair Country and Hosts of Rebecca. It tells of the Evan family buying a canal barge on the Neath valley canal. There they meet Mari Mortymer and her adopted daughter Rhiannon. It tells of the coal industry in Resolven as well as the Brunel designed Canal system of the valley. It describes the landscape of the area (still viewable today over 150 years later) as well as the hardship suffered by the family, and growth of disease and population topography in the industrial revolution.
Cordell's third book in the lives of Mortymer family switches its focus to the canals and waterways of South Wales, especially the Neath Valley. The narrator is Bryn Evan, son of Mostyn and he describes how he, his Father and the Evan family take delivery of a new barge as owner/operators. They struggle to maintain a working existence against the onslaught of the new railways then under construction and being forged by the inspired engineering skills of Isambard Kingdom Brunel which are penetrating the valleys of South Wales. Against this backdrop, Mostyn marries Marie Mortymer who also appears in 'Rape of the Fair Country' and 'The Hosts of Rebecca'.
Time passes and the family have to accept the inevitable that the canals are failing, so they move to Aberdare to work in the pits and experience the grinding poverty and the everyday struggle of the Miners working the coalfields of the middle period of the 19th. Century.
A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it.
Neath is a market town and community situated in the Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,258 in 2011. Historically in Glamorgan, the town is located on the River Neath, seven miles east-northeast of Swansea.
The Mill on the Floss is a novel by George Eliot, first published in three volumes in 1860 by William Blackwood. The first American edition was published by Harper & Brothers, Publishers, New York.
Kate Roberts was one of the foremost Welsh-language authors of the 20th century. Styled Brenhines ein llên, she is known mainly for her short stories, but also wrote novels. Roberts was a prominent Welsh nationalist.
Briton Ferry is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. The Welsh name may indicate that the church, llan, is protected from the wind, awel. Alternatively, Sawel may be a derivative of Saul, St Paul's earlier name. He once landed at Briton Ferry. An alternative Welsh name unused today is Rhyd y Brython, a direct translation of Briton Ferry. The Normans referred to the River crossing as La Brittonne and Leland in 1540 as Britanne Fery.
Glynneath, also spelt Glyn-neath and Glyn Neath, is a small town, community and electoral ward lying on the River Neath in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. It was formerly in the historic county of Glamorgan. Glynneath ward covers only part of the community, with some 840 electors included in the neighbouring ward of Blaengwrach.
Llanfoist is both a village near Abergavenny, in Monmouthshire, Wales, and the community of Llanfoist Fawr. Llanfoist derives from Ffwyst, an early Christian Welsh saint, although the anglicised version of the church patron is Saint Faith. The population was 1,228 in 2011.
The Chronicles of Prydain is a pentalogy of children's high fantasy Bildungsroman novels written by American author Lloyd Alexander and published by Henry Holt and Company. The series includes: The Book of Three (1964), The Black Cauldron (1965), The Castle of Llyr (1966), Taran Wanderer (1967), and The High King (1968). The Black Cauldron earned a 1966 Newbery Honor, and The High King won the 1969 Newbery Medal.
The Rebecca Riots took place between 1839 and 1843 in West and Mid Wales. They were a series of protests undertaken by local farmers and agricultural workers in response to levels of taxation. The rioters, often men dressed as women, took their actions against toll-gates, as they were tangible representations of taxes and tolls. The rioters went by the name of 'Merched Beca' which translates directly from Cymraeg as Rebecca's Daughters. The riots ceased prior to 1844 due to several factors, including increased troop levels, a desire by the protestors to avoid violence and the appearance of criminal groups using the guise of the biblical character Rebecca for their own purposes. In 1844 an Act of Parliament to consolidate and amend the laws relating to turnpike trusts in Wales was passed.
Alexander Cordell was the pen name of George Alexander Graber. He was a prolific Welsh novelist and author of 30 acclaimed works which include, Rape of the Fair Country, Hosts of Rebecca and Song of the Earth.
The Neath and Tennant Canals are two independent but linked canals in South Wales that are usually regarded as a single canal. The Neath Canal was opened from Glynneath to Melincryddan, to the south of Neath, in 1795 and extended to Giant's Grave in 1799, in order to provide better shipping facilities. With several small later extensions it reached its final destination at Briton Ferry. No traffic figures are available, but it was successful, as dividends of 16 per cent were paid on the shares. The canal was 13.5 miles (21.7 km) long and included 19 locks.
Rape of the Fair Country is a novel by Alexander Cordell, first published in 1959. It is the first in Cordell's "Mortymer Trilogy", followed by The Hosts Of Rebecca (1960) and Song of the Earth (1969). The book has been translated into seventeen languages. In addition to the book having been adapted for numerous plays over the years and more recently.
Richard Lewis, known as Dic Penderyn, was a Welsh labourer and coal miner who lived in Merthyr Tydfil and was involved with the Merthyr Rising of 3 June 1831. In the course of the riot he was arrested alongside Lewis Lewis, one of the primary figures in the uprising, and charged with stabbing a soldier with a bayonet. The people of Merthyr Tydfil doubted his guilt, and signed a petition for his release. However, he was found guilty and hanged on 13 August 1831. After his death he was treated as a martyr in Merthyr and across Wales.
Melissa Ann Benn is a British journalist and writer. She is the daughter of Tony Benn and Caroline Benn.
The Vale of Neath Railway (VoNR) was a broad gauge railway company, that built a line from Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare to Neath, in Wales, chiefly to transport the products of the Merthyr iron industries to ports on Swansea Bay.
Hosts of Rebecca is a novel by Alexander Cordell, first published in 1960. It is the second in Cordell's "Mortymer Trilogy", followed by Song of the Earth.
The Dulas Valley Mineral Railway was incorporated in 1862 to bring coal from the Onllwyn area north-east of Neath to the quays there, and in the following year was reconstituted as the Neath and Brecon Railway. The line was opened as far as Onllwyn in 1863.
Scotch Cattle was the name taken by bands of coal miners in 19th century South Wales, analogous to the Molly Maguires in Pennsylvania, who, in disguise, would visit the homes of other local miners who were working during a strike or cooperating with employers against the local mining community in other ways and punish them by ransacking their property or attacking them physically.
Tylwyth Teg is the most usual term in Wales for the mythological creatures corresponding to the fairy folk of English and Continental folklore and the Irish Aos Sí. Other names for them include Bendith y Mamau, Gwyllion and Ellyllon.
The Fire People is a historical novel by Alexander Cordell, first published in 1972. It forms part of the 'Second Welsh Trilogy' of Cordell's writings. It tells of events leading up to the 1831 Merthyr Rising in Merthyr Tydfil and surrounding areas in South Wales.