Rose Queen & King of the May / Brenhines a Brenin Mai

Pwy sy’n cofio traddodiad y ‘Rose Queen’?

Byddai’n dda cael gwybod mwy am y rocesi ifanc sydd yn y llun yma. Ar y chwith mae Miss Iris Howells. Yn y canol mae y ‘frenhines’, Beryl Hughes (gwraig Gordon Hughes). Ar y dde mae Dorothy (Dolly) Bennett. Ond pwy yw’r lleill?

Mae’r cefndir yn ddiddorol hefyd. Tir amaethyddol Windy Hall sydd lle y mae tai Pen-yr-Aber heddi.

Un a ysgrifennodd am draddodiad y carnifal yn Wdig 1915-1930, oedd Syd Walters. Dyma oedd ganddo i ddweud –

“Fi oedd Y Brenin Mai, gyda Peggy James yn Frenhines ar yr achlysur cyntaf. Bum yn Frenin Mai sawl gwaith eto wedi hynny. Ar un achlysur arbennig cafodd mam Peggy James, “Annie Fach”, fenthyg asyn a chart gan Mrs Griffiths o Gwmbrândy. Nesta Rees oedd fy Mrenhines y diwrnod hwnnw. Y cynorthwywyr oedd Daisy Andrews, Glenys Creese, Jessy Rees, Grenville Crease, Lloyd James a Morty Rees ar yr achlysur cyntaf.”

” Ar ddechrau New Road roedd parc lle cynhaliwyd nifer o Garnifalau a Ffeiriau. Heblaw am yr hooplas arferol, dweud ffortiwn a stondinau cnau coco, roedd dau atyniad rheolaidd arbennig. Roedd un yn her – y cyntaf i fwyta afal wedi’i orchuddio â thriog ac yn hongian ar linyn hir. Ras Wilber oedd y llall, ond rhoddwyd handlen brwsh i’r dyn oedd yn eistedd yn y wilber ac we’n rhaid iddo ei thaflu drwy dwll mewn hambwrdd siglo a oedd â bwced o ddŵr arno.

Roedd Carnifalau a Ffeiriau eraill yn cael eu cynnal ar y Promenâd . Rwy’n cofio bod mam a thad Cyril Powell yn bresennol yn aml iawn yn gwerthu eu Hufen Iâ.

Un flwyddyn, anfonodd y Llynges Llong Ddepo gyda phum llong danfor i Fae Abergwaun. Roedd Carnifal a Mabolgampau yn Wdig a chwaer Scurry Roberts oedd brenhines y Carnifal. (Priododd hi gyda D.S. Evans y Fferyllydd yn ddiweddarach). Rwy’n cofio edrych drwy’r perisgop tra ar y Depot Ship, a’r noson honno, gartref,  rhyfeddodd fy Mam pan ddywedais wrthi enwau pob un y bu’n siarad â nhw yn y carnifal tra roeddwn i yn edrych o’r llong.”

Who remembers the ‘Rose Queen’ tradition?

It would be good to find out more about the young ladies pictured here. On the left is Miss Iris Howells. In the middle is the ‘queen’, Beryl Hughes (wife of Gordon Hughes). On the right is Dorothy (Dolly) Bennett. But who are the others?

The background is also interesting. Agricultural land is seen at Windy Hall where the houses of Pen-yr-Aber are today.

Writing about the carnival tradition at Goodwick in 1915-30, Syd Walters recalled  –

“I was King of the May with Peggy James as Queen on the first occasion. I was King of the May a few times again after that. On one particular occasion Peggy James’ mother, “Annie Fach”, had the loan of Mrs Griffiths’ donkey and cart from Cwmbrandy. Nesta Rees was my Queen that day. The attendants were, Daisy Andrews, Glenys Creese, Jessy Rees, Grenville Crease, Lloyd James and Morty Rees on the first occasion.”

”At the beginning of New Road there was a Field in which several Carnivals and Fetes were held. Besides the usual hooplas, fortune telling and coconut shies, there were two special regular attractions. One was a challange – the first to eat an apple covered with treacle and dangling on a long string. The other was a Wheelbarrow Race, but the man sitting in the barrow was given a brush handle which he had to throw through a hole in a swinging tray which had a bucket of water balanced on it.

There were other Carnivals and Fetes which were held on the Promenade instead of the field. I remember Cyril Powell’s Mother and Father were very often in attendance selling their Ice Cream.  

One year, the Navy sent a Depot Ship with five submarines to Fishguard Bay. There was a Carnival and Sports in Goodwick and Scurry Roberts’ sister was the Carnival queen. (She was later to marry D.S. Evans the Chemist). I remember looking through the periscope while on the Depot Ship, and, that evening at home I shocked my Mother when I told her the names of each one she had been speaking to at the carnival while I was watching from the ship.”