Meet the weather sellers of Barry.
By Graham Loveluck-Edwards.
Back in the 18th Century, seafarers and sailors were famously superstitious.
Treacherous seas and the risk of wrecking meant they observed any number of rituals to try and assure themselves safe passage and they saw omens of good or bad weather everywhere. For example, a common saying amongst sailors from the Vale of Glamorgan was “when Breaksea Point doth roar and cry, Gileston Lane is never dry”.
One of the lesser-known ways in which a sailor might assure themselves of a storm-free passage was to ‘buy’ some good weather. My recent research has uncovered a small group of people who you might either call ‘enterprising’ or ‘unscrupulous’ depending on your own moral compass. They would ‘sell’ good weather to sailors in the Barry and eastern Vale area.
We also have some record of the rituals these people would observe when fulfilling their customer orders. Turning their hat to face the direction they wanted the wind to blow was one. Another technique was to prick an egg with a pin to drain it of its whites and yolk, then to “catch” any bad weather in the egg and seal it up with shoemaker’s wax. The egg was then handed to the customer so they could release the bad weather by breaking the egg once the voyage was over.
The first was called ‘Modryb Sina’ (which means Aunty Sina). She lived somewhere in the parish of Cadoxton and was well known to those who sailed out of Lavernock or Sully. For a fee, she would sell you ‘a fair wind’. Enough to fill your sails and give your vessel speed on the waves, but not enough to put you in danger. It seems that she peddled her wares for over 20 years so she must have been good.
But not quite as good as another chap who lived on Barry Island called ‘Ewythr Dewi’ (or Uncle David). He not only sold weather to local sailors but was known to travel as far afield as Swansea as his ‘fair weather’ was in such demand. There was also another local man going by the name of ‘Bill O’Breaksea’ who offered a similar service in Aberthaw.
There is also folklore of wives who had grown weary of drunken, slothful, or abusive husbands going to these people to pay for the opposite of good weather. A severe storm to see their husbands off the next time they put to sea. Probably cheaper than a divorce – Like I said, depending on your moral compass.
- Graham Loveluck-Edwards is an historian and author of ‘Legends & Folklore of Bridgend and the Vale’ and ‘Historic pubs of Wales’. Available at Amazon and all good independent book shops or here.
- View his videos on local history by visiting his YouTube channel here.
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🌟 This article first appeared in the printed edition of the Glamorgan Star on 30.06.22. Read it in print first!
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