The Welsh have an endearing habit of linking famous people with a Welsh heritage.
"Look at Nelson Mandela" they will say: "His granddad was from Merthyr Tydfil"
Or, even less probably: "Mother Theresa was Welsh, her family moved to Albania when she was two years old".
I have long become accustomed to such claims which, a Welsh friend claims, are a product of an insecure nation. He can say that, I could not possibly.
But now, it seems, an English author has lodged a claim that fairly and squarely (if true) places Wales on the map.
According to Michael Clark, Joseph of Arimathea is buried in Cardiff, capital city of Wales.
England also has a claim to Joseph of Arimathea who, allegedly, travelled to Glastonbury where he rammed his staff into the ground, whereupon it took root and is now known as 'the Glastonbury Thorn'.
Joseph was, of course, a trader and it seems highly likely that he did undertake voyages from time to time; but whether he made land in England or Wales is still, I suspect, a matter for conjecture.
But Mr Clark claims that Joseph's body is intact and located at the ruined chapel of St Mary, in Bute Park, Cardiff.
Furthermore, he also believes that Joseph was known in Wales as 'St Ilid' and that he founded a church at Llanelid, near Pencoed (if he indeed went to Pencoed he would have been lucky to leave with a coat on his back).
His claims are made in his book 'Maelgwyn of Llandaff and Joseph of Arimathea'.
Meanwhile, we labour on, happy in the knowledge that William Shakespeare, Albert Schweitzer, Abraham Lincoln, Robin of Locksley, Clark Kent, Alexander the Great, Elvis Presley and Alexander Fleming all had Welsh blood in them!
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| Elvis Presley aka Elvis Evans |
"Look at Nelson Mandela" they will say: "His granddad was from Merthyr Tydfil"
Or, even less probably: "Mother Theresa was Welsh, her family moved to Albania when she was two years old".
I have long become accustomed to such claims which, a Welsh friend claims, are a product of an insecure nation. He can say that, I could not possibly.
But now, it seems, an English author has lodged a claim that fairly and squarely (if true) places Wales on the map.
According to Michael Clark, Joseph of Arimathea is buried in Cardiff, capital city of Wales.
England also has a claim to Joseph of Arimathea who, allegedly, travelled to Glastonbury where he rammed his staff into the ground, whereupon it took root and is now known as 'the Glastonbury Thorn'.
Joseph was, of course, a trader and it seems highly likely that he did undertake voyages from time to time; but whether he made land in England or Wales is still, I suspect, a matter for conjecture.
But Mr Clark claims that Joseph's body is intact and located at the ruined chapel of St Mary, in Bute Park, Cardiff.
Furthermore, he also believes that Joseph was known in Wales as 'St Ilid' and that he founded a church at Llanelid, near Pencoed (if he indeed went to Pencoed he would have been lucky to leave with a coat on his back).
His claims are made in his book 'Maelgwyn of Llandaff and Joseph of Arimathea'.
Meanwhile, we labour on, happy in the knowledge that William Shakespeare, Albert Schweitzer, Abraham Lincoln, Robin of Locksley, Clark Kent, Alexander the Great, Elvis Presley and Alexander Fleming all had Welsh blood in them!
Hey I love the lines in Jerusalem "and did those Feet in ancient times" referring, as I was told in Cornwall two years ago, that Christ as an adolescent came on the tin-trading boats with Joseph of Arimathea to Cornwall, near Fowey..the Welsh cannot have everything
ReplyDeleteI have heard it said that, statistically, beyond 6 or is it 8 generations, we are all interrelated to, well you choose, Charles Martel, Cortez, George I, or whoever, assuming they procreated of course.
ReplyDeleteI like the story of Joseph of Arimathea,(even accompanied by a youthful Jesus), coming to Britain. It is quite an old one. Mr Honey in Nevil Shute's "No Highway" was a firm believer in this.
When St Joseph decided to go to Glastonbury, did he get St Paul to make him a tent?
ReplyDeleteI have recently been doing a bit of reading around Joseph of Arimathea. Of course, as you know, there is absolutely no evidence, but what many find interesting is the fact that the Glastonbury Thorn always flowered at Christmas and Easter. This is similar to the cross on the back of donkeys and many attribute a religious meaning to it. Beyond this it is also interesting that the pagan, wicca, occult brigade have made Glastonbury their own. It is almost as if Satan decided to fire bomb the place with the occult. This asks a further question - Why go to all the trouble? We'll never know, but it is interesting.
ReplyDeleteOf course, whilst doing a bit of research I also discovered the little known story of King/Saint Lucius of Britain. Saint Lucius is a legendary 2nd-century King of the Britons traditionally credited with introducing Christianity into Britain. Lucius is first mentioned in a 6th-century version of the Liber Pontificalis, which says that he sent a letter to Pope Eleuterus asking to be made a Christian. The story became widespread after it was repeated in the 8th century by Bede, who added the detail that after Eleuterus granted Lucius' request, the Britons followed their king in conversion and maintained the Christian faith until the Diocletianic Persecution of 303.
This story predates all of them and is refuted by historians, however when you dig a bit further you soon discover that many of these historians had good religious reasons to refute Lucius (propaganda etc). What is interesting is that the Vatican canonised him, they also believe that he was in Britain in 2AD.
OPN, yes, I would like to believe in the Glastonbury Thorn and your comment re the ungodly moving in to Glastonbury is a very good point. We actually lived there in the early 70s when the new age mob were barely noticeable.
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