ernest rhys, arthur machen, wh davies, and caradoc evans

330 Pages·2013·10.82 MB·English

LONDON-WELSH WRITING 1890-1915:
ERNEST RHYS, ARTHUR MACHEN,
W. H. DAVIES, AND CARADOC EVANS
Tomos Owen
A Thesis Submitted in Candidature for the
Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Cardiff University
2011

LONDON-WELSH WRITING 1890-1915:
ERNEST RHYS, ARTHUR MACHEN,
W. H. DAVIES, AND CARADOC EVANS
Tomos Owen
A Thesis Submitted in Candidature for the
Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Cardiff University
2011
UMI Number: U585531
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Abstract
This thesis explores the emergence of a Welsh voice in exile in London at the turn of the
twentieth century. Through readings of works by four London-Welsh writers active
during the period 1890-1915 — Ernest Rhys (1859-1946), Arthur Machen (1863-1947), W.
H. Davies (1871-1940) and Caradoc Evans (1878-1945) — it argues that the London
context of these works makes possible the construction of various modes of Welsh
identity.
The introduction begins by noting how theorists of national identity have identified
cultural practices, including literature, as important in shaping the imagined community
of the nation. It then incorporates, and adapts, Raymond Williams’s thinking about the
interplay of residual, dominant, and emergent currents operating within a culture by
arguing that residual elements within a society can be harnessed and endowed with the
potential to become newly emergent. The introduction concludes by identifying Matthew
Arnold’s description of the Celt in his On the Study of Celtic Literature (1867) as a residual
element. Nevertheless, it points out how, in various ways, Arnold’s Celt is recuperated by
London-Welsh writers (among others) at the turn of the twentieth century.
Chapter One argues that the work of Ernest Rhys constructs a self-conscious Welsh
literary tradition by reclaiming Welsh-language literature and Arnold’s Celt and
mobilising them as part of a cultural-nationalist aesthetic; London is an important
influence on this development for material and aesthetic reasons. Chapter Two considers
how Celtic history and mythology haunt the representation of the Gwent border country
in the work of Arthur Machen, arguing that Machen’s Celt is also derived from Arnold
but recast as a spectral, ghosdy figure. Chapter Three discusses Machen’s fellow son of
Gwent, W. H. Davies. Davies’s work, both poetry and prose, frequendy contrasts
country and city, yet this chapter argues that Davies’s work articulates a hybrid voice
which anticipates several of the themes and techniques present in later Welsh writing in
English. Chapter Four extends this by considering the early work of Caradoc Evans,
whose early ‘Cockney’ stories carry structural and thematic similarities with both Davies’s
poetry and his own later collections. By this reading, Evans’s My People (1915) stands as a
text which inherits earlier works and draws on an already-existing London-Welsh literary
culture. This thesis concludes by arguing that the London context to these writers’ works
makes possible the consolidation of a Welsh literary structure of feeling into an emergent
literary voice in English: London enables each of these writers to reassess their
relationship with a Wales left behind, but a Wales which nonetheless provides an impetus
to new creative developments.
Acknowledgements
It is a pleasure to thank all those who have helped and supported me in the writing of
this thesis. Doing so reminds me how lucky I am to be able to draw upon the experience
and generosity of friends, family and colleagues. My indebtedness to them is matched
only by my gratitude.
First of all I wish to thank my supervisors. I am very honoured to have studied under the
supervision of Katie Gramich and with the guidance of Stephen Knight; I am now
especially proud, however, to count them both as good friends.
Thanks also go the following, all of whom have offered insight and encouragement
during the preparation of the thesis: Neil Badmington, Martin Coyle, Paul Crosthwaite,
Dylan Foster Evans, Bill Jones, Becky Munford, David Skilton, Melanie Waters and
Heather Worthington. Particular thanks go to the eagle-eyed Rob Gossedge.
For friendship, wisdom, and sparkling conversation in Room 0.40 and beyond, my
heartfelt thanks go to James Aubrey, Katie Gamer, Jodie Matthews, Peter Roberts, Kara
Tennant, Laura Wainwright and Jess Webb. Thanks also to Maggie Knight and Lloyd
Roderick. I am lucky to have such wonderful friends.
Thanks to the IT support staff at Cardiff School of English, Communication and
Philosophy for help with the preparation of the thesis, and also to the staff at the Arts
and Social Studies Library — particularly in the Special Collections and Archives - for
patience and support with countless requests and enquiries.
I am grateful to the Arts and Humanities Research Council for awarding me a Doctoral
Award in order to carry out this research. I am also grateful to the School of English,
Communication, and Philosophy for support in enabling me to conduct and present my
research during the course of my study.
Finally, for their love, support, and untiring patience, diolch o galon i Sharon, Wynne,
Gwen, a Becky.
Ill
Contents
Abstract i
Acknowledgements ii
Introduction
Culture and Nation: Residual and Emergent Myths of National Identity 1
Models of National Identity: Anderson, Gellner, and Smith 4
Raymond Williams and the Residual, Dominant, and Emergent Cultural Modes 11
(Residual) Myths of National Identity 16
Matthew Arnold’s Residual Celticity 18
The London Welsh 30
Chapter One
Ernest Rhys: London Keldcism 36
A Coat Covered With Embroideries Out of Old Mythologies 36
In Search of Lost Times: Reading and Constructing Welsh History 46
Wales, London, and the Invention of Literary Tradition: A. London Rose and Other Rhymes 38
Nation and Translation 02
Chapter Two
Arthur Machen: The Gothic London Celt 106
Gothic Contexts; or, The Ghostly Nation 106
Machen and the Celtic Gothic 112
Spectres of Arnold: The Three Impostors 127
The Hill of Dreams and the Death of the (London-Welsh) Author 144
Conjuring Celticism 161
Chapter Three
‘A City’s Noise and Nature’s Quiet Call*: W. H. Davies 175
Davies, the Welsh Georgian Poet 175
A Poetics of Exile 186
Finding Utterance 101
Davies and Evans: Towards My People 219
Chapter Four
‘An Intransigence that is Not Easily Ignored’: Caradoc Evans prior to My People 237
A Prologue to History 237
Sinker of the Sandcasde Dynasty 239
London Chat 255
Caradoc Evans: Super-Tramp 266
Chatting About Wales 285
The City, The Village 296
Conclusion 304
Bibliography 309
1
Introduction
Culture and Nation: Residual and Emergent Myths
of National Identity
Late-nineteenth-century London sees the emergence of a Welsh voice in exile. In various
social, political, and cultural spheres, the Welsh community in London succeeds in
negotiating a distinctive position for itself within the great metropolis. Across a range of
forms and authors, the period around the turn of the twentieth century, from the re­
founding of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion in 1878 to the publication of
Caradoc Evans’s My People in 1915, witnesses the development of a distinctive Welsh
writing in English. Through reading works by four London-Welsh writers active during
the period 1890-1915, this thesis will argue that the London context of these works
makes possible the construction of various new models of Welsh identity. Theoretical
positions concerning the development of nationalism and national identity will combine
with Raymond Williams’s thinking about the interplay of residual, dominant, and
emergent ideologies to establish a framework for this argument. The thesis complements
this methodological approach with primary research into the work of four writers seldom
read together: Ernest Rhys (1859-1946), Arthur Machen (1863-1947), W. H. Davies
(1871-1940), and Caradoc Evans (1878-1945). While these writers are representative of a
London-Welsh literary-cultural milieu, the differences of form and content among their
works suggest that London-Welsh writing at the turn of the twentieth century cannot be
reduced to these four authors. Religious and political writing burgeons during the period,
as do other Welsh discourses in the city, by means of public lectures and the
establishment of literary' and learned societies. Politically, the 1890s marks the high-water
mark for the campaign for Welsh Home Rule centred around the Cymru Fydd/Young
Wales movement. London-Welsh newspapers and periodicals attest to the vibrancy and
diversity of Welsh life - and writing - in London during the period: as well as recording
the activities of the London Welsh, the London Kelt newspaper, for example, contributes
2
to the proliferation of Welsh literary production in the city. This thesis aims to read the
works of Rhys, Machen, Davies, and Evans as representative of a London milieu in
which what can later be described as an Anglophone Welsh literary consciousness is
taking shape and awaiting definition.
Theoretical accounts of the emergence of national identity can correlate the synchronous
emergence of several different Welsh discourses in London at the turn of the twentieth
century. By reading the various models of Benedict Anderson, Ernest Gellner, and
Anthony D. Smith charting the rise of national identities, this introduction will suggest
that the forward-looking nature of a new national identity always coincides with a look
backward to a mythical, ancient, invented, national past. This mythical past is often
revived in a new nationalism through the realm of culture. By juxtaposing the models of
Anderson, Gellner, and Smith to Williams's thinking about the interplay between what he
terms ‘residual*, ‘dominant*, and ‘emergent’ ideological currents present within any
society, this introduction will contend that nationalist movements inevitably carry the
residual trace of the past, even if that past is ‘forged’, or invented; furthermore, this
residual element of a national identity can be exploited to bind — or invent — a renewed,
emergent national consciousness. The propinquity of London-Welsh political activity and
cultural production in this period speaks of an interplay between such residual and
emergent forces within a growing national movement. The Cymru Fydd movement’s
campaign for Welsh Home Rule and Disestablishment can be read alongside the works
of Rhys, Machen, Davies, and Evans as discourses which engage with and imagine Wales
in new ways: each writer’s engagement with Wales constitutes a complementary — if
sometimes uncomplimentary — counterpoint to the aims of more overdy political
nationalists of the period.