Llyn a Chrefydd Harri Parri

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-Lleyn and Religion

-Looking back, it's no surprise...

-..that religion has played

-an important part in my life.

-I was raised

-on the outskirts of Llangian.

-Walking through the village...

-..conjures up a mixture

-of happiness and longing.

-People like to come in for a chat.

-People like to come in for a chat.

-

-I noticed the chair!

-Looking at Llangian today...

-..who would imagine

-a huge row in Smyrna chapel?

-It tore the village in two.

-Is it safe to reveal

-the cause of the rift?

-You might find out more

-about that later.

-From a fifty-strong congregation

-at this small, rural chapel...

-..four of us became ministers.

-Not everyone accepted my decision.

-I remember Mam saying...

-"..If you can resist, don't do it.

-I'd rather you didn't."

-That was Mam's advice.

-Over the years, in difficult times,

-I've tended to agree with her.

-My father was quietly proud.

-He wasn't overly supportive,

-but in his heart...

-..I think he was more supportive.

-I don't know how the calling came.

-It was there

-from when I was a small child.

-It became stronger over the years.

-We consider religion in Lleyn

-as something quiet and peaceful.

-But there has always been excitement,

-like a simmering cauldron.

-People's strong convictions

-led to arguments.

-They hurt each other too.

-St Pedrog's Church personifies

-the excitement of the Cromwell era.

-# ECCLESIASTICAL MUSIC #

-The parishioners of Llanbedrog...

-..heard that Cromwell and his men

-were marching to Lleyn.

-The first thing that they did

-was to remove this...

-..and bury it on the beach.

-When Cromwell left, they put it back

-and it has been here ever since.

-All over Britain,

-hundreds of these...

-..were burnt and destroyed

-by Cromwell's soldiers.

-# ECCLESIASTICAL MUSIC #

-Cromwell wasn't overly fond

-of the Church and its traditions...

-..nor with the link

-between the Church and the Crown.

-He stabled his horses in this church.

-Yes, for a while. Disgraceful.

-I lean to the left theologically...

-..but the idea of turning a church

-into stables is disgraceful.

-Yes.

-Yes.

-

-What about that window?

-This was the window.

-There's a story associated with it.

-There's a story associated with it.

-

-Oh, yes.

-In one respect,

-it's more important than the screen.

-Cromwell managed to destroy

-the window, unlike the screen.

-The glass dated back further

-than the Protestant Revival...

-..probably to the 13th century.

-They shattered the main window.

-Llanbedrog parishioners

-collected the glass.

-They put it in a box and hid it

-under the church doorstep.

-Just over a century ago, in 1894...

-..the Madryn family

-donated a tower to the church.

-They had to dig foundations

-for the tower.

-While digging,

-they found the box of glass.

-They put the glass in the window.

-Experts from all over Britain

-come to see this important glass.

-Life wasn't always easy.

-As a minister,

-I had tough decisions to make.

-I started to write...

-..to escape to a world

-where I could mention religion...

-..a minister, a chapel

-and village life, and satirize it.

-I could be gently satirical.

-It was my salvation.

-I created a world for myself

-into which I could escape.

-"Tell me, Jac, how and where

-did Derlwyn Hughes die?"

-"In Dwynwen Lightfoot's bed...

-"..Lingerie Womenswear."

-The minister rose as if in a trance

-and walked to the door.

-"You should have seen

-the smile on his face!"

-I'm more interested

-in the history of religion...

-..than in religious ideology.

-I have my beliefs

-and I've thought things out.

-I've rejected some things

-and accepted others.

-Philosophizing about religion

-doesn't appeal to me much.

-But the history of religion

-and religious figures do appeal.

-The history of religion

-filled my old home...

-..halfway between Nanhoron

-and Llangian.

-It was once called Dark Lane,

-which says it all.

-Early Lleyn Nonconformists

-met here to worship in secret.

-Back in the 17th century...

-..the King's soldiers

-persecuted anyone...

-..who dared worship

-outside the mother church.

-Worshippers blacked out windows

-so that they wouldn't get caught.

-That may be one explanation

-for the name Dark Lane.

-I'm proud of my connection

-with these brave people.

-They fought oppression

-for the freedom to worship.

-I'm a Nonconformist by nature.

-Maybe this is where it came from.

-Plenty of Lleyn folk have rebelled,

-among them one of my great heroes.

-I've a slight obsession

-with the lady of the manor.

-I'm here once again!

-I'm here once again!

-

-How nice to see you.

-How are you?

-How are you?

-

-All the better for seeing you!

-I've come looking for Catherine.

-Is she still here?

-I think she is.

-Come and have a look.

-Catherine Edwards was the mother

-of Lleyn Nonconformity.

-Her support enabled the early

-Nonconformists to worship safely.

-I've been rummaging

-in the library for you.

-I've found some books that belonged

-to Catherine. This was her garden.

-Bettina Harden,

-the lady of the manor today...

-..shares my interest in Catherine.

-This is one of her books,

-which is about growing fruit trees.

-To me, Catherine Edwards is a rebel

-and a source of inspiration.

-She was a young woman far from home

-when she lost her husband.

-At this difficult time,

-she had a religious conversion.

-She rejected her family's

-ecclesiastical traditions...

-..to worship in Caernarfonshire's

-first Nonconformist chapel.

-It was unheard of

-for a lady of her social status.

-It must have been quite lonely.

-She was English, not Welsh,

-but she loved this place greatly.

-She was a woman of spirit and

-determination, and thoroughly nice.

-In my schooldays, I'd walk past

-the little whitewashed chapel...

-..with my friend,

-John Gruffydd Jones.

-It was a hard school.

-I suppose so.

-It's my fault

-he has a scar on his eye.

-I dodged to avoid a stone

-and it hit Harri on the head.

-The chapel fills me with fear.

-I've only been inside once.

-The bier is above the pulpit.

-It frightened me

-when I was a youngster.

-The key fits.

-I wonder if the bier

-for the coffin is still there?

-"Underfoot, only earth,"

-as Cynan said.

-It's still on the wall.

-It's still on the wall.

-

-There's the bier.

-It scared me.

-It hovered above the congregation.

-It's awful!

-This was the Plas Nanhoron pew.

-It's impressive.

-This is where Catherine Edwards sat.

-Can you imagine her here?

-Can you imagine her here?

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-Directly in front of the minister.

-I'm told that the window

-above the pulpit...

-..was opened on fine days.

-There were more people

-outside than in.

-They were listening.

-It holds 120, but there were more

-for a preaching assembly.

-They opened the window

-so that people outside could hear.

-Coming up in part two, I set sail

-in search of another Nonconformist.

-What scandal still makes

-some Methodists blush to this day?

-He was a popular man.

-Women were attracted to him.

-He was considered a ladies' man.

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-Lleyn has drawn pilgrims

-and sheltered Nonconformists.

-In the 18th century...

-..the Methodist Revival pioneer,

-Howell Harris...

-..was warmly welcomed here.

-It was kept secret

-because it was an embarrassment.

-It would make a great film.

-The story begins in October, 1748,

-when Harris came to the area.

-He held a meeting in Tregarnedd

-that Sidney Griffith attended.

-Harris was invited

-to Cefnamwlch that night.

-During their conversation,

-he realized she had been called.

-She'd had a religious conversion.

-That's where the friendship began.

-This is Coed Caerdydd

-on the Cefnamwlch estate.

-Howell Harris didn't just

-convert people to Methodism.

-He also charmed and was charmed

-by the lady of Cefnamwlch Manor...

-..Madam Sidney Griffith.

-Howell's wife, Anne,

-wasn't exactly thrilled...

-..when Madam Sidney

-landed at their home in Trefeca.

-She often stayed for long periods.

-Harris obviously wanted

-the three of them to live together.

-He wanted them to be

-like the three strings of a rope...

-..tightly interwoven.

-Anne Harris

-wasn't going to accept that!

-She was determined

-that Sidney wouldn't move in.

-But the truth is, Anne Harris

-was a woman of her age.

-Her husband had the last word

-and Sidney Griffith moved in.

-Her room was far superior to Anne's.

-Harris described her

-as his eye and his arm.

-He had the idea

-from the Old Testament.

-God provided the eye

-to recognize the truth...

-..and reveal the truth.

-According to Howell Harris,

-Sidney was one of these eyes...

-..people chosen by God

-to prophesy the future.

-While Howell Harris

-fell for Sidney's charms...

-..back at Cefnamwlch in Lleyn...

-..her husband drank himself to death.

-He fell downstairs

-and broke his neck.

-Sidney Griffith

-received the news in Trefeca.

-She had prophesied

-that he would die...

-..as she prophesied

-that Anne would die...

-..so that she and Howell Harris

-could be together.

-But Madam Sidney didn't prophesy

-her own sudden death...

-..from tuberculosis, apparently.

-It started a big scandal.

-If it happened today,

-your mobile wouldn't stop ringing!

-It was a massive scandal.

-Ordinary folk found it amusing.

-It justified all their prejudices.

-I don't doubt

-that a lot of laughing went on.

-"Tell me, Jac," asked the minister,

-having seen the invalid.

-"What exactly happened to you?

-Everyone's talking about you."

-"I've had a religious conversion!"

-"What?" "Through the post!"

-"It came from America

-on a piece of paper.

-"It cost several Tia Marias

-to pay for it."

-Being a minister can be difficult.

-I'm with people at fateful times

-in their lives.

-I'm not an emotional creature.

-I find it hard to weep in public.

-I don't think a minister

-should weep in public.

-If I wept at every funeral,

-I would despair.

-I'm not one

-for public displays of emotion.

-But I feel it, like everyone else.

-I have never understood

-long illnesses.

-I can't understand

-people losing children.

-There are no words or explanations...

-..but it's a relationship

-that lasts a lifetime.

-I could take you

-to Caernarfon today...

-..to meet parents who lost a child.

-Our friendship has lasted

-through the years.

-When we meet, our thoughts

-turn to that hour, that day.

-Smyrna chapel in Llangian

-produced four ministers.

-My friend, Dic,

-who has sadly left us...

-..me...

-..and then later Robert and John.

-I feel that this is where

-I had my calling.

-Would you agree?

-Certainly to me.

-I had a very early calling.

-I wanted to be a minister

-from when I was very young.

-I remember Gwilym O Roberts's

-Brillo sermon.

-He referred to scouring saucepans!

-It's the monkey sermon I remember!

-Despite our debt to this chapel,

-I remember a bitter dispute here.

-I'd almost say that the dispute

-helped me to see...

-..that the chapel community

-had never been perfect.

-It was an argument over the organ.

-The organist

-once faced the congregation.

-The accompanist fell out

-with members of the congregation.

-There came a motion from the floor

-to turn the organ around.

-The organist would have her back

-to the congregation.

-They put it to the vote,

-and it was a split vote.

-Ann Jones kept the key in her apron

-at the end of every service.

-"Over my dead body will anyone

-move the organ," she said.

-But one night, Ann Jones

-left the key in the lock.

-Someone stole it.

-Between two and three o'clock

-one Monday morning...

-..two chapel members broke in

-and moved the organ.

-By Sunday morning...

-..the organist had her back

-to the congregation.

-It was a tragedy and a comedy.

-Seeing imperfections in people

-can be an advantage to a minister.

-It's our imperfections

-that identify us all.

-I admire colourful people...

-..especially those who stand up

-for what they believe in...

-..those willing to take a chance...

-..and those who aspire to realize

-a dream without fearing failure.

-There was a pagan wedding

-on the island.

-People tried to spy with binoculars

-at the naked dancing!

-Yvonne and Meirion from Abersoch

-come fishing here often.

-They're familiar with Chapel Bay.

-The name refers to a monk's efforts

-to establish a Papist monastery...

-..on the island in 1887.

-He was called Father Hughes.

-His dreams were shattered

-because of a storm of protest...

-..from suspicious local people

-and by a real storm.

-These two islands have attracted

-the adventurous, the eccentric...

-..and, by now, the wealthy.

-Luxury boats anchor here

-on a sunny day.

-They form one row

-and there's no room here.

-They have parties, barbecues

-and picnics on their gin palaces...

-..from early morning

-till late at night.

-Luxury boats?

-Yes, they must cost a lot of money.

-The adventurer Bear Grylls

-owns one island.

-The son of dramatist Carla Lane

-owns the other.

-Lleyn has a tradition

-of attracting outsiders...

-..interesting and different people.

-Religion is about people to me.

-It's not a building of bricks

-and mortar nor an establishment.

-Religion has left its mark here

-through the ages.

-But to me, it's the people of Lleyn

-who carried the cross.

-Religion has rubbed off on me

-through them.

-S4C Subtitles by GWEAD

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