The last edition of Below! (Shropshire Caving & Mining Club) contains an
article (anonymous) statin "When a new mine manager was wanted at any of
the mines on Snowdon, it was a prerequisite that applicants spoke English
and French, because so many of the miners were Breton. 'Llyn Llydaw@
means 'Lake Brittany' in Welsh".
Does anyone have any proof of this? I understand that the name Llydaw,
although translating as Breton (I am no Welsh speaker) is thought to be
more likely to be a personal name, & anyway is recorded much earlier than
the date the Snowdon copper mine was discovered (c mid 18th Century). In
the 1850's there were proposals to bring in Cornish miners, & most names of
workings in the area are either Welsh or Cornish. It would surely have
been much more likely that managers were Welsh speakers (although I don't
suppose there were many Welsh speakers amongst the Cornish).
Alasdair Neill.
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