Monday 21 February 2011

Martha Vandrei on 'Buddug' / 'Boudica'


Monday, 21 February 2011 at 4.00 pm
Conference Room (B03), Basement Floor, Callaghan Building

Martha Vandrei (King's College London)
‘“Buddug”: Reimagining Boudica in Victorian Wales'

ABSTRACT
The ancient British heroine Boudica has been forgotten, remembered, praised, and vilified throughout her long posthumous history. Her reputation as a national heroine did not cement until the nineteenth century, when a combination of factors, most importantly Victoria's long reign and the concomitant heyday of hero-worship, worked together to bring Boudica in from the ancient cold. The latter years of the century saw many commemorative activities associated with Boudica, such as the excavation of her supposed burial place on Hampstead Heath in 1894, as well as the erection of Thomas Thornycroft's iconic statue on Westminster Bridge. The expansion of British (or specifically English) power abroad has also been pointed to as the impetus behind Boudica's nineteenth-century resurrection, leading some to say, for example, that Thornycroft's 'Boadicea' was as much a commemoration of the South African wars as it was of the ancient British past.

This paper demonstrates that there was another side to the Boudica story. Imperial associations may have played a part in English reinterpretations of Boudica in the nineteenth century, but her Welsh supporters were inclined to see her very differently. This paper argues that Boudica's place in Welsh history was unique to a Celtic retelling of the ancient past. Elements of Celtic culture that set it apart from the dominant Anglo-Saxon centre freed Boudica from troublesome moral judgment about her pagan or barbarian practices. Instead, her identity as an ancient Briton was morphed into that of a modern Welshwoman by nationalists. Far from an attempt to distance themselves from the English, this rewritten version of Boudica's story was a demonstration of Welsh loyalty to Victoria. It was also a retelling of ancient British history that put Wales, rather than England, at its centre and claimed the origin of British greatness could be found in the heart of ancient Wales.


COLEG Y CELFYDDYDAU A’R DYNIAETHAU
SEMINAR YMCHWIL

Dydd Llun, 21 Chwefror 2011 am 4.00 pm
Ystafell Gynadledda (B03), Llawr Isaf, Adeilad Callaghan

Martha Vandrei (Coleg y Brenin Llundain)
‘“Buddug”: Reimagining Boudica in Victorian Wales'

CRYNODEB
Mae Buddug, arwres hen Brydain wedi cael ei hanghofio, ei chofio, ei chanmol a’i difenwi trwy gydol ei hanes hir ar ôl ei marwolaeth. Ni chadarnhawyd ei hanes fel arwres genedlaethol tan y bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg, pan weithiodd cyfuniad o ffactorau, teyrnasiad hir Fictoria ac anterth y cyfnod dilynol o ganmol arwyr yn bennaf, gyda’i gilydd i atgyfodi Buddug o gysgodion yr henfyd. Yn ystod blynyddoedd diwethaf y ganrif, cafwyd nifer o weithgareddau coffaol a oedd yn gysylltiedig â Buddug, megis cloddio’r lle y credir y cafodd Buddug ei chladdu ar Hampstead Heath yn 1894, yn ogystal â chodi cerflun eiconig Thomas Thornycroft ar Bont Westminster. Cyfeiriwyd hefyd at ehangu pŵer Prydain (neu’n fwy penodol Lloegr) dramor fel yr hwb y tu ôl i atgyfodiad Buddug yn y bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg, gan achosi rhai i ddweud, er enghraifft, bod 'Boadicea' Thornycroft gymaint yn goffâd o ryfeloedd De Affrica ag yr oedd yn goffâd o orffennol hen Brydain.

Mae’r papur hwn yn dangos bod ochr arall i hanes Buddug. Er i gysylltiadau ymerodraethol chwarae rhan yn y modd y mae Buddug wedi’i hailddehongli yn Lloegr yn y bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg, roedd ei chefnogwyr yng Nghymru yn tueddu ei hystyried mewn modd gwahanol iawn. Mae’r papur hwn yn dadlau bod lle Buddug yn hanes Cymru yn ailadroddiad Celtaidd unigryw o’r gorffennol hynafol. Gwnaeth elfennau o ddiwylliant Celtaidd a’i wahanodd o ddiwylliant dominyddol yr Eingl-Sacsoniaid ryddhau Buddug o feirniadaeth foesol drafferthus am ei harferion paganaidd neu farbaraidd. Yn lle hynny, newidiodd ei hunaniaeth fel Prydeinwraig hynafol i fod yn Gymraes fodern gan genedlaetholwyr. Yn bell o fod yn ymgais i bellhau eu hun o’r Saeson, roedd y fersiwn newydd hon o stori Buddug yn arddangosiad o ffyddlondeb y Cymry i Fictoria. Mae hefyd yn ailadroddiad o hanes hynafol Prydain a roddodd Gymru, yn hytrach na Lloegr, yn y canol ac a honnodd fod mawredd Prydain yn tarddu o galon hen Gymru.

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