GUEST POST from Don – The Unsettling, chapter 2

PREQUEL to BLURRY MOUNTAIN: “THE UNSETTLING”

©️2026 Donald Whelpley

[Hope you enjoyed chapter 1 last month.  If you missed it, go back and read that first. ~ Don]

CHAPTER TWO.  UPROOTING.

March 1 was St David’s Day.  St David was a devout Christian brother from the nine hundreds who on his deathbed said, “Brothers, be constant.  The yoke which with single mind ye have taken, bear ye to the end, and whatsoever ye have seen with me and heard, keep and fulfil.”  The Hughes family ate lobscows that night, a thick stew known elsewhere in Wales as cawl.  In the morning he put the farm up for sale.  His wife began sorting and packing.  She knew they could not take much with them.  Everything else would be sold or shared with others in their fellowship.  Furniture, stored grain, seed, animals, even kitchen utensils would be sold on a day not far in the future.  The items and animals were worth far more to them than they would receive, but to pack it and ship it would cost more than new would cost in the New World.  It was a yoke they would need to bear to the end.

Two days later an angry Aidan rapped on the door.  Grigor allowed him to spew for quite a while, saying nothing.  Then Aidan added, “And what say ye?”  Grigor responded quietly, “You have the same opportunity to purchase this farm as any other.”  He handed Aidan a piece of paper and a quill.  “Feel free to write a bid for the farm and house, or merely the farm alone.  I will consider it carefully.”  Aidan at first thought to rip up the paper and storm out, but he thought better of it and sat at the table and wrote out a bid.  It was, of course, low.

It only took two weeks to acquire four bids, his brother’s being the lowest for the farm only.  So, Grigor took the signed bids and walked to his brother’s house.  They spoke for a bit then Grigor asked him to help him make a decision on whose to accept.  Aidan looked at the bids and felt ashamed at his own.  Grigor said nothing.  Aidan brightened and queried, “Well, if you will accept a slight change in my bid I would like very much to buy your farm, but I have no use for the house.”

Grigor handed his brother’s bid to him.  Aidan sat at the table after finding his quill and ink.  He crossed out his earlier quote and wrote a bid that was just over the second highest, “I will have to borrow a bit.”  

Grigor said, “I will miss being near you more than I will miss where I was birthed, brother.  I accept your bid.  I believe I have a buyer for the house.  The man may make an acceptable worker to help you.”  Aidan then offered Grigor a slice of Bara Brith, a fruited bread and local tradition, and a cup of tea.  They talked pleasantly for a long time that afternoon.

Grigor’s wife, Branwyn, was from just across the Menai River, a very turbulent waterway, which runs between the Island and Mainland.  She was Welsh, too, but grew up on the mainland in a crossroads town, thus she also spoke the King’s English.  That didn’t stop her from having a full Welsh vocabulary when she was angry.

Maybe how they met should be told.

Christian revivals are far more common than most imagine.  True, when one mentions “The Welsh Revival” most historians think of the 1904 revival which saw a hundred thousand converts who followed the urging of the Holy Spirit.  Churches were full of souls seeking God.  Of course, there was an earlier revival about 1856 and more regional ones in the century prior to that.  Christianity came to Wales as early as the sixth century and grew quickly.  The years before 1,300 were rough.  Marauders and wars ruined chapels and cathedrals.  Castles were built, some were abandoned before they were completed.  

Wales was a land from which much stone was quarried.  Even a few of the monoliths found at Stonehenge were taken from there.  One of the oldest cathedrals is at Bangor and built with quarried stone..  It is still there.  Actually, it has been destroyed several times and rebuilt.  It even had a pipe organ as early as 1779.  However travel improved when the old wooden bridge over the Manai River from the island to the mainland was replaced by a suspension structure.  With the improved bridge came increased trade between the significant town of Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll (the full name is much longer) on the island and the much larger town of Bangor on the mainland.  One other benefit of improved travel was an increase in revival in the region.

Revivals don’t just happen.  They are often preceded by a desire to experience God’s closeness.  People gather to pray, perhaps weekly for years.  A serious intent to follow God’s plan, to seek His presence, and to carry out His will plants the seeds of hope and expectation.  Such was the case in the Welsh County of Anglesley in the late 1700s.  That was when grandfather Alwyn Hughes found something amazing … he trusted God and learned that God trusted him back.  He was determined in his soul to live in that God-inspired relationship.  He was intensely affected.  Thus he was faithful in prayer for his family and his neighbors.  Little could keep him away from a prayer meeting, or a worship service, or for that matter a nearby “revival” service.

That explains why he took his grandson Grigor across that new Menai River suspension bridge which connected Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll to Bangor to participate in a series of special services being held there.  His grandson was not only thrilled to his soul with Christ’s love, he also met a pretty lass.  That wasn’t love at first sight, but he persisted to visit for several months.  Wearing down her resistance he was able to show her God’s plan (or maybe his own).  A year later they married and settled down.  Soon they had four youngsters with the same tenacity had by any Hughes offspring.

In order of birth they had Brian (a healthy son), Drysi (“thorn”), Owena (“born to nobility”), and finally Tomos.  All traditional Welsh names with meanings and value.

[Watch for Chapter 3 next month…]

Christmas On Blurry Mountain ~ Part 1 of 4 ~ Part 2 of 4 ~ Part 3 of 4 ~ Part 4 of 4

Copyright 2026 Donald Whelpley

[PLEASE NOTE that Don is always open to discussing the thoughts and opinions he shares here and welcomes comments as shared in the comment section. He doesn’t use other social media platforms and won’t see whatever you’d like to share with him if you post it elsewhere.
ALSO, Don is always open to offer his thoughts on various topics. If you have a specific request, you can let him know in a comment; he reads – and replies to – them all. ~ Sherry]

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