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Copyright
Helen Forder
2005
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Lady
Greenly ... continued
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page 2
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In 1823 Augusta Waddington
married Benjamin Hall III
and they lived in a rented house in Herefordshire where they were
neighbours of Lady Greenly. She no doubt continued to share her enthusiasm
for the Welsh language, which she spoke extremely well, with the young Mrs.
Hall. '...
contrary to the general belief today, there was still a great deal of Welsh
spoken in Herefordshire at the period'. In spite of the age difference between the two women, Lady Greenly
and Augusta Hall were great friends, and Eliza Greenly became one of the
god-parents of Augusta and Benjamin's first child, Augusta Charlotte
Elizabeth (later Mrs. Herbert).
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Lady Greenly, always an
ardent supporter of the Welsh causes of the day, attended every eisteddfod
in south-east Wales. In 1833 she wrote to her cousin Louisa Hastings :-
'To all, who from ignorance or prejudice oppose these national
meetings, [i.e. eisteddfodau] let it be said that whatever
preserves nationality - that love for the
language, customs, habits and appearance of our forefathers which has most
commonly a strong hold on the uncorrupted mind, ought to be encouraged, for
it cannot be doubted that the prevalence of such feelings is the safeguard
of a people.'
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Mrs. Hall (later Lady
Llanofer) won the prize for the best essay on the advantages of preserving
the language and dress of Wales, at the Cardiff Eisteddfod of 1834, but
Lady Greenly had also sent in an entry. She used the pseudonym Llwydlaes,
and her entry was complimented for its style and language. Her generous and
unassuming nature enabled her to write to her cousin, Louisa Hastings:-
'Mrs. Hall was called upon to receive the Ring from Lord Bute amidst a thunder
of applause - she had kept the secret so profoundly that everybody was as
much surprised as pleased, and I hope that even I
(Llwydlaes) did not envy her success too much'
...
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A week later she wrote again
to her cousin saying that 'Dear Mrs Waddington ... told me I
ought to have had the Ring, for I had no one to assist me
in writing the essay which was the spontaneous production of the moment. To
this, however, I could not agree, Mrs. Hall took great pains and had
opportunities of research which I had not, and deserves a reward for her
diligence'.
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