Reflections on a guided tour of Penrhyn Castle

by Rhodri Molwynog a’i cant (sic)

20/11/21

We start outside – ystad y Penrhyn:

Golygfa hardd, tirwedd enfawr, ardal Gymreig.

Turn to face the Castle: grand and grey

(What is ‘Neo-Norman’ in Gwynedd context?)

The big door: an entrance – but only for some.

Inside: without spirit of place. What is Penrhyn?

An enigma to me.

Paradox presents: Eisteddfod print, 1894.

The great hall vacuous: nothing here; only its perimeters shine.

Library of books: knowledge, ideas – subsumed in setting. Dark.

The only light is the outside trying to get in;

Shining through the shields of noble tribes: Pymtheg llwyth Gwynedd.

Bedroom walls of birds and colour – from China.

‘Beth yn y Byd’ brightens this place:

Outside: that is where Penrhyn’s stories are; Ble?

Beyond these walls; beyond the genius of carved craft.

Where is the slate and slavery? Quarries of Penrhyn’s profit.

The enslaved and slate men (not to be conflated)

Are coming out of hiding: idealised images reframed –

Repositioned into the lineage on the walls:

The portraits of power (who are the women?)

Lord Penrhyn: weight on Caernarfonshire –

His territory mapped: the acres outside of here.

(How is Penrhyn part of this place?)

Praise-poetry in Penrhyn previously prevalent:

Lletty’r beirdd oedd hen Plas Penrhyn:

Maes moliant, maes marwnad.

(My Welsh is woeful – nine years to learn cynghanedd we’re told)

(Restore the cywydd and Cymraeg to the Castell: it is so quiet).

The Gruffydds – ap Gwilym: Noddwyr y Beirdd

Gone, with Piers ‘the pirate’; a parchment existence:

Hidden in Llandygai vaults and medieval muniments.

Penrhyn as presented is Pennant property:

(John Williams – Lord Keeper – kept in a corner).

Penrhyn: still an enigma to me.

A complex castle with much more to say: locally, globally:

Challenging. Uncomfortable. But essential.

Bring the outside in: stories and people – enrich its space.

It desperately needs a sense of place.

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