3.1136 the Ladies of Llangollen (62)
Willard McCarty (MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca)
Mon, 5 Mar 90 20:59:28 EST
Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 3, No. 1136. Monday, 5 Mar 1990.
(1) Date: Sat, 3 Mar 90 20:07:00 EST (19 lines)
From: TBESTUL@crcvms.unl.edu
Subject: The Ladies of Llangollen
(2) Date: Mon, 05 Mar 90 14:33:03 EST (23 lines)
From: Laine Ruus <LAINE@vm.utcs.utoronto.ca>
Subject: Ladies of Llangollen
(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 3 Mar 90 20:07:00 EST
From: TBESTUL@crcvms.unl.edu
Subject: The Ladies of Llangollen
The Ladies of Llangollen are minor heroes of the feminist movement. Early
in the nineteenth century they eloped from Ireland and settled in Llangollen,
North Wales. They are noted for being the first female couple in modern
times to live more or less openly what we would call a lesbian lifestyle.
The ladies were learned and literary. Their home in Llangollen was a lively
center of cultural life, and the ladies were visited by many prominent
writers and artists. For a fascinating account, see Elizabeth Mavor,
*The Ladies of Llangollen: A Study of Romantic Friendship*, London, 1971,
reprinted by Penguin, 1981. The ladies' house in Llangollen has been
preserved as they left it, and is open to the public. It is beautifully
situated and well worth visiting.
yours,
Tom Bestul
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
tbestul@crcvms.unl.edu or tbestul@unlvax1 (bitnet)
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------29----
Date: Mon, 05 Mar 90 14:33:03 EST
From: Laine Ruus <LAINE@vm.utcs.utoronto.ca>
Subject: Ladies of Llangollen
Compliments of the librarians in Robarts Reference Division:
...without including the Ladies and their house. They were two
unmarried women of Irish Connection. Lady Eleanor Butler and
the Hon. Sarah Ponsonby, who decided to elope together - the
expression is apt since they conducted the affair without
telling their families. They settled first in the town of Denbigh
in 1776. From there they removed to a cottage in Llangollen, which
they enlarged into the present Plas Newydd (New Place). They
dominated what was then a village, and summoned various men of
distinction to their Place demanding forms of tribute in the shape
of curios, particularly pieces of oak, carved if possible. One
visitor, Wm Wordsworth, went so far as to offer a sonnet as a gift, but
unfortunately he referred to the Place as a low-roofed cottage,
which debarred him from ever having another invitation. It is
certainly a curious house, over-timbered rather than half-timbered,
and there is nothing else quite like it anywhere......
source: The Shell Guide to Wales, 1969