'GOLCH TREFENTY'
Sir,
Those readers familiar with my contribution on Trefenty in the last issue of The Carmarthenshire Historian may recall that in the penultimate paragraph I spoke of a metaphor the property had given to the language — 'gulch Trefenty' — indicating a washing-day of unusually large proportions. Subsequently, I have been informed by my friend Mr. D. Emrys Williams, Assistant Keeper of the Department of MSS and Records, National Library of Wales, who hails from the Llansawel-Talyllychau district, that during his youth he had often heard local housewives, when faced with a hefty washing-day or a difficult ploy, use the phrase "mae'n Drefenty 'ma heddi" (It's a Trefenty here today). The district where Mr Williams lived is about 25 miles from Trefenty as the crow flies, so that the metaphor seems to have gained a fairly wide currency.
FRANCIS JONES,
Hendre, Carmarthen.
to top