This post was last updated on August 27th, 2024 at 02:57 pm
Welsh love spoons, slate gifts, and Welsh Lady dolls are heartwarming keepsakes that can last a lifetime. Knowing the history behind these three popular Welsh gifts will make them even more special to you, whether you’re the giver or the receiver.
Three popular Welsh gifts given throughout the years in Wales are Welsh love spoons, Welsh slate gifts, and gifts featuring the Welsh Lady—a woman wearing the traditional Welsh costume of a woolen dress with an apron, neckerchief, stockings, red cloak, and tall black hat. Before the early 1800s, Wales didn’t have a national dress for women. We’ll explore its origin and the woman who popularized it.
Did you know that love spoons aren’t unique to Wales? However, crafters of the love spoon in Cymru brought their own style, skillfulness, and attention to detail virtually unmatched anywhere else, truly bringing the Welshness factor into what we know as Welsh love spoons.
The history of slate in Wales goes back over 1,800 years. People in North Wales began quarrying slate in Roman times. When the Industrial Revolution swung into high gear in Wales in the 1800s, the Welsh slate industry boomed. Slate in Wales is around 500 million years old and is the highest quality worldwide. A gift of slate from Cymru is a gift of the land itself.
This post is about three popular Welsh gifts and the history behind them.
Welsh Gifts
The Welsh Lady (Welsh National Costume)
You may have seen small dolls in Wales dressed in a particular manner or an image of a woman wearing a tall, black hat painted on ornaments or other decorative items. This woman has become known as the “Welsh Lady.” She represents the Welsh National Dress, the traditional clothing women in rural parts of Cymru wore in the early 1800s.
What does this traditional costume consist of, and why has it become a symbol of Welsh identity? The outfit is comprised of a loose-fitting dress (also called a “bedgown”) made of wool and worn over a corset. Underneath this, ladies wore an undergarment called a “petticoat,” which is a shorter skirt and was usually also made of wool. Women wore aprons over their bedgowns and also put on knitted stockings, a neckerchief, and a red cloak. They finished off the look with a tall black hat. The iconic black hat has become known as the “Welsh Hat.”
Before the 19th century, Wales did not have a specific cultural dress, although women who lived in remote parts of Cymru did wear wool dresses. Ladies drew inspiration for their gowns from 18th-century fashions, but beyond that, they didn’t have a national costume.
How Did the “Welsh Lady” Identity Turn into Popular Welsh Dolls?
Augusta Hall (born Augusta Waddington [March 21, 1802 – January 17, 1896]) popularized the idea of a Welsh national costume. Also known as “Lady Llanover,” as her family was from Llanover, Monmouthshire, she was well educated and had traveled all over Britain and Europe. In 1823, Lady Llanover married Benjamin Hall, an MP (member of parliament) for 22 years. Among his other contributions, he’s remembered as the person in government who oversaw the construction of Big Ben in Westminster. Yes, if you were wondering if the clock is nicknamed after Benjamin Hall, indeed it is! Its official name is “Elizabeth Tower,” after the Queen.
Lady Llanover was busy with her own worthy endeavors of promoting Welsh folk culture and the Welsh language. She was one of the leading proponents of the triple harp as Wales’ national instrument. She also ensured that Welsh was taught in two schools and assisted in starting a women’s Welsh language magazine called “Y Gymraes” (“The Welsh Woman”).
Lady Llanover was also responsible for forming the foundations of the Welsh national dress. At the Eisteddfod in Cardiff in 1834, she submitted an essay under her bardic name, “Gwenynen Gwent.” (A “bardic name” is a fictitious name used by artists and poets in Cornwall, Brittany, and Wales.) The essay was entitled “The Advantages Resulting from the Preservation of the Welsh Language and National Costumes of Wales.” It won Best Essay in the competition. Her dress ideas took hold, and women accepted them throughout the country. One might say that Lady Llanover was the original Welsh Lady! While the traditional costume is now only worn on St. David’s Day or by performers at eisteddfodau (festivals of music or poetry), the Welsh Lady is very much alive as a cultural symbol in art, gifts, and the cute dolls we see.
Traditional Welsh Gifts: Welsh Love Spoons
People began giving Welsh love spoons as gifts in the 1600s. They were made either from scratch or from large wooden kitchen spoons and carved with symbols and shapes, especially on the handles. The spoons began as a token of affection that a young man would create and give to the woman he loved, hoping she would accept his offer of a relationship. While he might also give her sweets or flowers, a love spoon was a highly personalized gift and went beyond merely a beautifully crafted woodwork. For one thing, he chose what symbols to place on the spoon, conveying a message only for his beloved. Secondly, the many hours of work he put into perfecting each little detail in the gift showed his commitment to her. And finally, the craftsmanship itself showed his skill and good qualities as a potential husband.
The Oldest Love Spoon in Wales
The custom of carving love spoons does not actually originate in Wales. They’ve been found all over Europe—especially in the Celtic areas. However, the Welsh people took this tradition and gave it their own style, creating some of the most intricate and unique love spoons in the world. The spoons carved in Cymru varied in every way, from size to the wood used to different degrees of intricacy. Each spoon was a unique creation with a separate and special meaning from every other spoon. Unfortunately, we don’t know who made the first love spoon in Wales. However, we do know of the oldest surviving love spoon from Cymru that a young suitor made in 1667. You can see it at St. Fagan’s National Museum of History.
Love and Marriage in Remote Parts of Wales
Another interesting aspect of the history of Welsh love spoons is that when people first began making them, couples in remote parts of Cymru rarely had a formal engagement or marriage ceremony. They merely started a relationship and later lived together as husband and wife. (This changed during the 1800s when the registry of marriages became mandatory in England and Wales.) The new wife would then proudly display her love spoon on the wall to symbolize the couple’s bond. Seen in this light, especially as many families were poor and couldn’t afford jewelry, the love spoon almost acts as a kind of wedding ring and token of their vows to one another.
In this post about Welsh Mother’s Day gifts, you can learn about some symbols on Welsh love spoons, their meanings, and the different types of wood used.
Welsh Slate Gifts
What makes slate so valuable? For one thing, it can last a very long time. On a roof, it can last for over a hundred years. Of course, depending on what builders use it for, slate can last far longer than that. For example, the Bronze Age ring cairn, Bryn Cader Faner in North Wales, could be as much as 4,000 years old! Much of it remains, and you can still visit this haunting ring of stones today.
One reason slate lasts so long is its low water absorption. This quality makes it resistant to damage from frost and erosion. In addition to that, unlike some materials, slate’s color only improves with time. That means that its rich hue only deepens rather than fades. Slate is also a dense stone, which makes it withstand lots of weather without cracking easily.
Slate has always been a part of life in Wales. The ancient Welsh used it since antiquity for various purposes, including burial sites, tools, and shelter, to name a few. The more “recent” history of Welsh slate goes back over 1,800 years to when the Romans built their military forts in Britain. They constructed Segontium, a fort in Caernarfon, using slate from the quarries in North Wales. The slate was also used in building castles, such as Conwy Castle, which King Edward I built. However, it wasn’t until the advancements of the Industrial Revolution that Wales’ slate industry boomed. Wales soon became the leading slate producer in the world!
While the last slate mines closed in the 1960s, people still prize Welsh slate for its beauty, durability, and high quality. It’s used in everything from roofs to buildings to ornaments, cutting boards, and keepsakes. As a gift, Welsh slate is a fun and unique way to connect with this intrinsic part of Wales’ past.
More Ideas for Sharing a Love of Cymru
For other ideas for Welsh gifts, check out the following posts:
- Welsh Gifts for Him: 9 Welsh Gifts for Him That Are Thoughtful and Fun
- Welsh Terrier Gifts: The Breed That Inspired the Cute Welsh Terrier Stuffed Animal
- Books About Wales: 7 Great Welsh Gifts for the Bookworm in Your Life
- Unusual Welsh Gifts: 5 Ways to Celebrate Memories and Connections With Unique Welsh Gifts
- Welsh Food Gifts: 7 Exciting Ideas for Giving Welsh Food Gifts
- Traditional Welsh Gifts: 7 Cute and Fun Ideas With Traditional Welsh Gifts
- Welsh Gifts for Her: 11 Welsh Mother’s Day Gifts Filled With Love and Joy
And even more ideas for Welsh gifts:
Welsh socks, Welsh keyring, Welsh tea towels, gifts made in Wales like candles and wool blankets (Felin Fach has the most beautiful blankets!), funny Welsh gifts (such as t-shirts, mugs, or ornaments), Welsh handmade gifts, luxury Welsh gifts (like food hampers), and cwtch gifts
This post was all about three popular Welsh gifts and their history.
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