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Author: bromaelor
Surnames:
Classification: queries
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.britisles.wales.den.general/1621.1....
Message Board Post:
Llangollen Fechan ("Little Llangollen") was the township to the east of
Llangollen on both sides of the A5 road, towards Froncysyllte. The house 'Llangollen
Fechan' is now a nursing home.
Ty Isaf in Llangollen Fechan appears on the current OS map but is not named! It is the
house in the middle of the golf course, between the A5 road and the river, at SJ234422. It
is clearly marked on a 1959 version.
Bache (actually Bachau, but locally the "au" is pronounced "e", hence
the corruption!) was the township to the south of the A5 road in Llangollen and included
part of the town itself, continuing up the steep slope of the valley. The origins of the
name Bachau is unclear but it is probably not derived from 'bach'.
Note that much of the 1861 census for Llangollen is missing, so you may not be able to
find Gwen there?
Beware of the "Mary had a little lamb" link to Llangollen. It is false! Mary
Hughes of Ty Isaf, Llangollen claimed to have written the nursery rhyme and this claim is
even repeated on her gravestone in Worthing, Sussex, England. But according to the
Llangollen Museum (and most other sources) "This is a lovely folklore story, but
sadly Mary Thomas of Llangollen was not the heroine of the nursery rhyme ... The Mary of
the rhyme was Mary Sawyer and the school was the Redstone Schoolhouse in Sterling
Massachusetts, U.S.A.". The nursery rhyme was actually published years before Mary
Hughes was born!
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