A Measure of Success
Such were prospects, and the reasons for her rebellion. The incident with Sophie was a last straw. However Edna's circumstances were no different from those of thousands of young girls in thousands of households across Britain at that time. Families were large, elder siblings were adults compared to the younger, and the youngest girl was expected to help her Mother at home. They were virtual servants to their own brothers and sisters.
Brothers however didn't fare so badly.
Notice that it was Willie, two years younger than Edna who was invited out to collect blackberries while Edna scrubbed floor, and it was to get the boys out to their football game that she would end up by washing dishes ... for ten! If the recipient of such treatment had any initiative, something was bound to happen.
"I went to my Uncle John's in Barmouth and told him ‘I've run away from home, you know.’ I'd cooled down by this. ‘I’ve run away from home, you know.’ So, he said ‘How did you come?’ I said ‘I’ve run.’ I ran, ran, ran, ran … (whispers). See, when I was frightened too, my nose used to bleed, terribly, (so I was a mess when I had arrived.) He kept me there that night and let me sleep, in his bedroom, really. He was about 67 then and alone, his wife had died, and his son had gone away. The next day was Sunday... I hadn't got clothes you know. I was as I was, in working clothes.”
“Uncle John gave me half-a-crown, which was the price of going home by train. Now he said ‘You'll go?’ I said 'Yes.' I had
in my mind that I knew how to walk to Fairbourne, but this time I didn't go on the railway line because he had told me that I might have been run down, or anything might have happened.”
“I walked along the road. I walked right round on the coastal road and I landed in Fairbourne. I went now to a shop, and in some of these shops you find notices of jobs. I saw a job in Fairbourne for a public house. I was scared stiff of going into a public house but I saw a job for a housemaid. Well, I thought I knew how to make beds and didn't think about me being in a public house. I went into a huge hotel; it seemed to me.
Everything was massive. I said ‘I’ve come to apply for the job.’
I must have looked small for a person really. Mind you I'd washed and cleaned, and tidied myself as well as I could. September it was, so perhaps I wasn't as bad as I think I was.
So she said ‘When can you come?’ ‘
Tomorrow.’
‘Have you got a black frock?’
‘Yes.’
‘Have you got a white apron?’
‘Yes.’”
“I hadn't got any such thing. So I went to Fairbourne Station and out of the half-a-crown I paid my fare to Towyn, but I got off just before the station, or, the stop before Rhyd yr Onen. Tonfanai it was. Got off at Tonfanai. I knew it was as easy for me to walk from Tonfanai as it was to go to the station and feel all, sort of Sunday-morning-ish. I could easy go home that way -- across the fields.
Off I went.”
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Such were prospects, and the reasons for her rebellion. The incident with Sophie was a last straw. However Edna's circumstances were no different from those of thousands of young girls in thousands of households across Britain at that time. Families were large, elder siblings were adults compared to the younger, and the youngest girl was expected to help her Mother at home. They were virtual servants to their own brothers and sisters.
Brothers however didn't fare so badly.
Notice that it was Willie, two years younger than Edna who was invited out to collect blackberries while Edna scrubbed floor, and it was to get the boys out to their football game that she would end up by washing dishes ... for ten! If the recipient of such treatment had any initiative, something was bound to happen.
"I went to my Uncle John's in Barmouth and told him ‘I've run away from home, you know.’ I'd cooled down by this. ‘I’ve run away from home, you know.’ So, he said ‘How did you come?’ I said ‘I’ve run.’ I ran, ran, ran, ran … (whispers). See, when I was frightened too, my nose used to bleed, terribly, (so I was a mess when I had arrived.) He kept me there that night and let me sleep, in his bedroom, really. He was about 67 then and alone, his wife had died, and his son had gone away. The next day was Sunday... I hadn't got clothes you know. I was as I was, in working clothes.”
“Uncle John gave me half-a-crown, which was the price of going home by train. Now he said ‘You'll go?’ I said 'Yes.' I had
in my mind that I knew how to walk to Fairbourne, but this time I didn't go on the railway line because he had told me that I might have been run down, or anything might have happened.”
“I walked along the road. I walked right round on the coastal road and I landed in Fairbourne. I went now to a shop, and in some of these shops you find notices of jobs. I saw a job in Fairbourne for a public house. I was scared stiff of going into a public house but I saw a job for a housemaid. Well, I thought I knew how to make beds and didn't think about me being in a public house. I went into a huge hotel; it seemed to me.
Everything was massive. I said ‘I’ve come to apply for the job.’
I must have looked small for a person really. Mind you I'd washed and cleaned, and tidied myself as well as I could. September it was, so perhaps I wasn't as bad as I think I was.
So she said ‘When can you come?’ ‘
Tomorrow.’
‘Have you got a black frock?’
‘Yes.’
‘Have you got a white apron?’
‘Yes.’”
“I hadn't got any such thing. So I went to Fairbourne Station and out of the half-a-crown I paid my fare to Towyn, but I got off just before the station, or, the stop before Rhyd yr Onen. Tonfanai it was. Got off at Tonfanai. I knew it was as easy for me to walk from Tonfanai as it was to go to the station and feel all, sort of Sunday-morning-ish. I could easy go home that way -- across the fields.
Off I went.”
Back to Earlier books