Book #21

Wild Wales, The People, Language and Scenery

George Henry Burrows

Wild Wales is the account of George Burrows' walk through Wales in 1854.  Now, we are not talking about a little walk, we are talking about months of walking across a major portion of Wales.  He starts in Chester and enters Wales traveling to Wrexham and then on to Llangollen.  He spends some time at Llangollen while he walks all over the surrounding area.  Then, a long journey takes him out as far as Holy Head on Anglesey, on a round trip that eventually totals nearly 200 miles, all on foot.
 

After covering North Wales, Burrows begins his journey through South Wales.  Now, while stationed at Llangollen, his wife and daughter came to Llangollen with with him.  They only take a couple of short walks with him, always staying behind at the house in town.  As he began his trip south, they returned to England to wait for him.
 

He started south as Fall started, crossing South Wales on foot.  He travels something over 200 miles south through Wales to Swansea and then east to Chepstow.  That is the end of his journey in Wales.

Aside from the description of the landscape, Burrows tells us much about the Welsh people that he meets.  He was a student of Welsh poetry, and many of his side trips are to visit the home or birthplace of some great Welsh poet.  He also tells us some very amusing stories about certain famous Welsh persons.  At least they were famous in the 19th Century.
 

Wild Wales is not a travel guide.  I cannot find most of the places that he mentions, so reconstructing his trip using Bing maps has been difficult.  It isn't really a travelogue either.  It could be called a travelogue, based on the descriptions of where he went, as well as the local history, but it is interspersed with tales of individuals he met along the road, and his reaction to them.
 

So, should you read it?  Probably not.  I read it in little bites over a long time, and I am not disappointed that I did, but I doubt I will ever read it again.

Book #2

Travels Through the South of France and in the Interior of the Provinces of Provence and Languedoc
Lt.-Col. Pinkney
1809

Yes, you are reading that date correctly, 1809.  I came across this as a free book for Amazon Kindle while searching for travel books.  I started another written a few years later, but it was more of a political polemic than a travel book, so I quit that one and start on Pinkney's account of his travels in France.  Pinkney did a rather extensive tour, starting at Calais, traveling through Paris, then down the Loire valley and then moving over to the Rhone, to travel down to Avignon and finally to Marsailles where he ended his voyage and sailed back to the United States. 

A couple of things to note, this is during the reign of Napoleon, and foreigners were not always welcome in France, something that Pinkney mentions, but fortunately, he was American, and not English.  Also, this is only 32 years after the Declaration of Independence and only 20 years after the ratification of the Constitution.

It is a rather quaint travelogue, because almost nothing that we would recognized existed in that time.  The towns are drastically different than one would find them today, but the chateux along the Loire are still there, and Avignon is still Avignon, at least the old part of the city.  He travels part of the way alone, and then travels with a couple and a young lady of their acquaintance who Pinkney describes in rather glowing terms.

He comments on the people, the scenery, which is also describes in glowing terms, and  he gives us information on land prices, as well as prices of lodging, and food. Obviously, there are no trains or cars, so he travels by horse, and also by carriage after he meets up with those to accompany him on the later part of his trip.

I am not sure that anyone will find it interesting, but I found it fascinating, though I have one quibble.  The title mentions the region of Languedoc, where I spent nearly a year.  Lt.-Col. Pinkney never enters Languedoc.  He transits the Loire valley, which is well north of Languedoc, and then moves over to the Rhone valley, which is well east of Languedoc, so do not read this for information on Languedoc, but do read it for an intimate look at rural France in the time of Napoleon.