The legend of Jemima Fawr – the Welsh heroine
Ffwrn fach pot bread recipe
There are some tales and stories that always stay with you – be they legend and myth or historical fact. One such story that sticks in my mind is that of Jemima Nicholas, also known as Jemima Fawr (Jemima The Great).
Jemima was born in Fishguard in around 1750 and lived in the coastal town all her life. She was a cobbler’s wife and known around the town but lived a relatively quiet life until in her 40s, when an event would happen to make her story the stuff of legend.
In 1797, French soldiers under the orders of Napoleon Bonaparte landed at Fishguard, in what is considered to be the last invasion of Britain. The plan was to move west to Bristol, the Midlands and London and firmly seize control of swathes of important ports and bring them under French power – but the women of Pembrokeshire were having none of it. While it’s thought that the soldiers were not Napoleon’s best fighters, it doesn’t take away from the incredible bravery and creative thinking of Jemima.
The tale goes that Jemima heard of the invading troops and set out with her pitchfork. She successfully rounded up 12 soldiers singlehandedly and locked them in St Mary’s Church until the authorities arrived and take them as prisoners. With the British military on hand, a successful surrender was drawn up at the Royal Oak pub. In the discussions, the French soldiers described their fear at seeing so many troops on the hills and believed that their army of 1,200 men was outnumbered. This was confusing, as no British soldiers were based there or had been in the area.
Then eyes turned to Jemima dressed in her traditional Welsh dress with her striking red cloak and tall black hat. In a clever bit of trickery, she had convinced all the women of the town to dress up and march over the hills. From a distance (and with the soldiers most likely being intoxicated) these courageous Welsh women looked remarkably like British soldiers in their red tunics.
Jemima died in 1832, aged 82 and is buried in St Mary’s Churchyard in Fishguard. Her gravestone reads:
In memory of Jemima Nicholas of this town. “The Welsh Heroine” who boldly marched to meet the French invaders who landed on our shores in February 1797. She died in Main Street July 1832, aged 82 years. At the date of the invasion, she was 47 years old, and lived 35 years after the event.
In 1997, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the event, the town commissioned a tapestry that you can see in the gallery of the Fishguard Library.
To finish the tale, here’s legendary Welsh comedian Ryan Davies with his take:
The Recipe
Ffwrn fach pot bread
If you look back at old Welsh recipes, you’ll see that many use what’s known as a ffwrn fach (small oven) to cook and bake. In its simplest form, this is a cast iron pot with a lid. It could be put over a fire and embers put on the lid to cook from all sides. An alternative was to use the bakestone and cover it with a cast iron pot. This recipe uses the idea of a ffwrn fach, using a cast iron casserole or Dutch oven.
Ingredients (makes one loaf)
275ml warm water
7g fast-action dried yeast
400g bread flour, plus a bit extra for kneading
1tsp salt
1tsp sugar
30g softened butter
Olive oil for greasing
Method
In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients (except the olive oil) until you have a relatively wet dough.
Dust a worktop with flour and knead the dough for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic – you might want to put your Welsh Kitchen Playlist on as you knead.
Place in a bowl greased with olive oil, cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise for an hour until doubled in size.
Lay out a piece of greaseproof baking parchment on the worktop and dust with flour. Tip the dough onto it and gently form a small round loaf shape. Cover with the mixing bowl and leave to rise for an hour.
After 30 minutes, preheat oven to Gas Mark 7/220°C/425°F and pop your cast iron pot inside to heat.
Gently remove the dough from the paper and place in preheated pot – be careful to use oven gloves as the pot will be very hot. Score the top of the loaf with a sharp knife.
Bake for 35 minutes with the lid on, and then for a further 10 minute or so with the lid off until golden and crisp.
Carefully remove the loaf from the pot and allow to cool on a wire rack before slicing.
Spread with salty Welsh butter and enjoy.
If you try the recipe out, don’t forget to tag any photos with #mywelshkitchen.
The Playlist
To me, cooking and music go hand in hand, whether that’s singing at the top of your voice using a wooden spoon as a microphone while waiting for pasta to boil, or dancing around with the oven gloves on as the oven timer counts down. Here are this week’s ideas for your Welsh Kitchen playlist.
First up, we’ve got a song that I keep hearing everywhere by Kylie Minogue, whose family on her mum’s side is from Maesteg. Second up, we have one of the best versions of the Welsh national anthem I think I’ve ever heard, recorded at the closing of this year’s BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition.
Padam Padam by Kylie Minogue
Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau
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Can you help St Fagans?
Not only is my favourite museum – St Fagans National Museum of History –celebrating its 75th birthday this year, but it has also almost finished work on its latest addition to the site, The Vulcan pub from Cardiff. But, the team at the museum need a bit of help. They are looking for people to get in contact if they have any memories or photos of the pub – plus, they are looking for a brewery to provide the beer to serve in the pub when it opens. Applications for tender close in a few days and should be made here. Anyone who can help with memories should contact the team.
