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Historical Weather Accounts from Wales: an Assessment of Their Aberystwyth University Historical Weather Accounts from Wales: An Assessment of their Potential for Reconstructing Climate Macdonald, Neil; Jones, Cerys Ann; Davies, Sarah Jane; Charnell-White, Cathryn Angharad Published in: Weather DOI: 10.1002/wea.418 Publication date: 2010 Citation for published version (APA): Macdonald, N., Jones, C. A., Davies, S. J., & Charnell-White, C. A. (2010). Historical Weather Accounts from Wales: An Assessment of their Potential for Reconstructing Climate. Weather, 65(3), 72-81. https://doi.org/10.1002/wea.418 General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the Aberystwyth Research Portal (the Institutional Repository) are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the Aberystwyth Research Portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the Aberystwyth Research Portal Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. tel: +44 1970 62 2400 email: [email protected] Download date: 30. Sep. 2021 Historical weather accounts from Wales: an assessment of their potential for reconstructing climate Neil Macdonald1 detailed assessment of the climate record overlooked the potential contribution of from historical documents, with Oliver sources from Wales. The National Library of 2 Cerys A. Jones (1958; 1967) providing brief reviews of agro- Wales manages one of the largest collections Sarah J. Davies2 and climatic source materials, and recent work of Welsh language literary and history col- by Haslett and Bryant (2007) focused on the lections in the world. Within these accounts 3 Cathryn Charnell-White identification of earthquake-related tsunami are numerous sources discussing weather events around the Welsh coast. Limited anal- and climate, often in a descriptive manner 1University of Liverpool ysis of the historical climatology of Wales has as a tangential point to the main focus of the 2 Aberystwyth University, Wales perhaps been undertaken as sources are of- document, but occasional sources directly 3 Weather – March 2010, Vol. 65, No. 3 65, No. Vol. – March 2010, Weather National Library of Wales ten recorded in Welsh, or a mixture of English chronicle the weather or climate. The wide and Welsh, which are unreadable by many. variety of sources includes personal diaries, Historical sources are often widely dispersed farm and estate records, council and parish Introduction (unless contained within special collections), records, and even poetry and ballads. Historical documentary records are recog- increasing the difficulty in locating them; In this article, we identify a series of key nized as valuable in understanding long- accessing and understanding these sources texts (Table 1) from a preliminary investiga- term climate variability (Starkel, 2002; – even the terminology within the accounts tion of documentary materials from Welsh, Jacobeit et al., 2003; Lamb, 2005; Brazdil may be regionally specific – presents chal- English and bilingual (or macaronic – where et al., 2006a). In the UK, the Central England lenges in defining the exact account mean- multiple languages are used interchange- Temperature Series (1772– ) and the Lamb ing. Given the wealth of documents housed ably within the text) sources relating to weather catalogue (1861– ) provide a in the National Library of Wales, along with weather and climate in Wales. The selec- detailed climate record for England, but numerous regional archives, it is perhaps tion of texts presented here is designed to the value of these archives in Wales and surprising that previous studies addressing illustrate the range of archival sources that Scotland is more limited. Some long-term historical climate analysis within the UK have are potentially available, and is thus neither instrumental series exist, particularly for cit- ies such as Edinburgh (Dawson et al., 2004; Table 1 Macdonald et al., 2008), but these are few. The distance from the central England Chronological sequence of the principal sources examined to date. area and a lower density of instrumental Name/type of Source Start Finish Description of weather records stations in Scotland and Wales have limited Annales Cambriae 682 954 Intermittent understanding of climate variability in these western and northern areas during the Brut y Tywysogion 684 1330 Intermittent (The Chronicles instrumental period (~1750– ), preventing of the Princes) any detailed examination of regional differ- Giraldus Cambrensis 1188 1188 Tours of Wales ences. This article examines the potential of Carreglwyd Estate 1329 1864 Intermittent historical documents from Wales to provide Records a detailed reconstruction of climate vari- ability and weather extremes during the I’r Haf Oer 1555 1555 1555 Poem on one specific year last several hundred years. Such a record Summer Carols 1625 1776 For a specific summer and/or would provide valuable information from the previous winter the western fringes of Britain, known for its William Thomas 1762 7 April Daily diary entries sensitivity to variations in the North Atlantic 1795 (Mayes, 2000). The 1877 volume of British Rainfall listed Thomas Pennant 1773 1781 Travelogue 96 precipitation monitoring sites in Wales. Dafydd Wiliam of 1785 1785 Ballad on one specific year Most sites were located in lowland towns Llandeilo and cities, resulting in poor representation Daniel Walters 1780s Daily diary entries of upland and rural areas (Symons, 1878). Documentary records offer considerable Walter Davies 1797 1846 Daily diary entries (intermittent) potential for developing a better understand- (Gwallter Mechain) and Reports ing of climatic variability in rural regions, and Printed Ballads Eighteenth Century For a specific year in particular the frequency and magnitude of D. O. Jones 1 Jan 31 Jan Daily diary entries extremes and other notable events (Brazdil 1934 2000 72 et al., 2005). In Wales, there has been little chronologically continuous, nor exhaustive. is a strong contrast between the upland of different weather descriptions in the A Welsh language dictionary of current and and lowland regions of Wales. The uplands future. It is anticipated that the dictionary past regional terms for different types of are at the margins of commercially via- will develop and evolve as the research Wales accounts from Historical weather weather is presented (Appendix 1, after the ble farming and largely given over to hill expands through the examination of further References); if you are aware of terms not sheep farming, whilst lower-lying coastal texts. Whilst monastic records have not been included please contact the authors. We and alluvial areas are much more fertile and considered to date, they may potentially consider how this pilot study of historical productive with more favourable climatic provide a valuable dataset for future study. records from Wales can be further devel- conditions. Until the late eighteenth cen- A review of a selection of key sources con- oped to provide new insights into weather tury, a form of transhumance was common sidered to date follows. and climate variability on the fringes of the practice across Wales (some regions of the North Atlantic and into the nature of social Cambrian Mountains are still farmed using responses to climatic extremes. this practice). During the summer months, Geographical descriptions farmers would move to their summer resi- and travelogues dence (hafod ) and graze their animals in the The earliest description of the topography of mountains. During the winter months, ani- 3 65, No. Vol. – March 2010, Weather Wales and the weather Wales is that of Giraldus Cambrensis. Born in mals were brought down to shelter in val- 1145 at Manorbier in Pembrokeshire, Gerald The topography of Wales, although gener- leys and coastal areas, the farmer relocating of Wales, as he has become known, was ally hilly throughout, consists of three main to the main residence (hendre, meaning ‘old part Welsh and part Norman. He was very upland areas. In the south, running west dwelling’). Today many homes across Wales well connected with the higher echelons of to east are the Brecon Beacons (Bannau retain the links to the historic transient farm- both English and Welsh society and travelled Brycheiniog) and the Black Mountains ing practices, with many buildings retaining extensively. He wrote two books relevant to (Y Mynyddoedd Duon), whilst the Cambrian hafod or hendre within the property name. Mountains are oriented in a north–south Wales: a diary based on his tour of Wales in direction through mid-Wales. The highest 1188 and a description of the geography mountains are to be found in the north- and social and economic conditions in west of the country, with several peaks over Sources Wales. These represent a unique insight into 1000m, including Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), the The political history of Wales has significant- Welsh life at the close of the twelfth century. highest mountain in England and Wales. ly influenced the spatial distribution and Most of the references in these accounts Topography presents an important control
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