THE VIEW FROM THE ROCKING STONE

What links Edward Williams, better known by his bardic name Iolo Morganwg, Dr William Price, Druid and the pioneer of cremation in Britain, and Keir Hardie, MP for Merthyr and Aberdare and outspoken advocate for the miners?

The answer, as Cowbridge U3A History group learned in December 2018 from speaker Brian Davies, is to be found on Pontypridd Common in the shape of the Rocking Stone. This 7 ton boulder from the Brecon Beacons was deposited during the last Ice Age on the plateau sited above the Taff valley floor. By chance, the stone landed balanced on top of another, so it will rock by about 6 inches (15 cm) if sufficient momentum is imparted by an energetic group, hence its name.

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Not far from the rock are the remains of a pre-historic burial, dating from around 1500BC. Although the original mound has been flattened, some interesting features are still visible. The common also has a pre-historic standing stone, which is deliberately aligned on an east-west axis - another indication of the significance of this area to ancient people.

As it is a natural pulpit, the Rocking Stone became an important meeting place.

Iolo Morganwg, stonemason, poet and inventor of the ceremonial that we see every year at the National Eisteddfod, organised a meeting of local bards (poets) here in 1814, to celebrate the peace with France at the end of the Napoleonic Wars (short-lived though the cessation of hostilities proved to be).

This began a tradition of such gatherings, which continued irregularly for over a hundred years. The common elements were a procession up from town and poems on topical subjects, both important and trivial, being read from the Rocking Stone.

The colourful character Dr William Price of Llantrisant was linked with the common during the nineteenth century. There are several accounts of Price performing at the Rocking Stone, becoming increasingly eccentric in old age – walking up from Treforest in full Druidic costume, carrying a large red silk flag, and climbing onto the rock to address the sun at midday.

The stone circle and serpent were constructed for the inauguration in 1850 of Evan Davies, a local clock-maker and rival to Dr Price, who regarded himself as Archdruid of Glamorgan.

James James (composer of the music of ‘Hen Wlad fy Nhadau’) was known to enliven the bardic meetings with popular tunes on the harp. His father, Evan, author of the words of what would become the National anthem, was a regular participant in the gorsedd meetings.

In the 1860s when wages were low and unemployment high, emigration agents spoke to crowds from the Rocking Stone and urged workers to seek a better life in the USA or Australia.

The annual Pontypridd fairs were held on the common, the steam-powered attractions somehow being hauled up the steep access routes.

At Tynewydd colliery near Porth in 1877 five miners were rescued in circumstances somewhat similar to the Chilean miners’ rescue in 2010. Because it was a disaster with a happy ending it achieved huge worldwide publicity, and a great crowd, estimated at 50,000 strong, assembled at the Rocking Stone for the presentation of Albert medals to the men of the rescue brigade.

In 1898, when miners went on strike against wage reductions they crowded around the Rocking Stone to hear Keir Hardie, the Scottish trade unionist and politician.

Druidic meetings ceased in 1921; Pontypridd had by then become a predominantly English speaking town.

The last major public gathering on Pontypridd Common was for the unveiling of the war memorial by Viscount Allenby in August 1923. The obelisk is dedicated to the 5th Battalion, the Welch Regiment, many of whom were recruited in this area.

Ynysangharad War Memorial Park in Pontypridd was opened soon afterwards and became the major venue for large public events. Because of Health and Safety rules, the Rocking Stone is unlikely ever to become the site of large, organised meetings in the future.

The boulder, however, remains a vantage point from where you can survey the town and its dramatic valley setting.

This was the third pre-Christmas appearance in four years of Mr Davies, the retired curator of Pontypridd Museum; he has already been booked for December 2019.

The excellent illustrated talk was followed with the traditional buffet.

Steve Monaghan