Characters, Translation and Locations

By Dawn Harrison

 

Susan Millard has written a foreword which says "This story is set in the world of National Hunt racing and geography of existing racecourses. All the places mentioned, except Afonwen, Claybrooke and Green Bank are real’" so I am not going to mention all the places in detail unless deemed necessary to the story or they need further explanation.

 

Characters

Sian Davies - young girl working at an racing stables; the main character in the story, and whose story we follow during the course of the book. Often referred to as "Shannie" also. Starts working at Green Bank, but in the course of the story moves to Claybrooke

Steven Pickering - the boss "Guv'nor", a trainer

Green Bank - where Sian works initially; a racing stable

Frankie - Sian's room-mate, also works at Green Bank

Justin - son of Steven

Chris Rogers - son of an owner

Double Jump - mare at Green Bank; later moves to Claybrooke

Charlotte - waitress at The Stirrup (a pub)

Tony - head lad at Green Bank

Smokey Ash "Ash" - horse at Green Bank

Penny - lad at Green Bank

Stickleback - horse at Green Bank

Phillip - works at Green Bank

Dafydd Owen "Dava" - owner of Claybrooke (another racing stable)

Arthur Whalley - flat race specialist

Cymru - a horse at Green Bank

Madoc - nephew of Dava

Huw - Dava's brother

Bill Houghton - former head lad at Green Bank, now works at Claybrooke

Jack Brindley - former worker at Green Bank, now works at Claybrooke

Ted Gray - a worker at Claybrooke; formerly worked at Green Bank

Ken Forrester - a worker at Claybrooke; formerly worked at Green Bank

John Paddy Kinghorn - a worker at Green Bank

Jo Fraser - worker at Green Bank

Helen Rogers - Double Jump's owner

Appomattox - a horse at Claybrooke

Jackdaw Bay - a horse at Claybrooke

Canterbury - a horse at Green Bank

Jo Fraser - a jockey

John Rogers - Helen's husband

Chris - John and Helen Rogers' son

Good Evans - a racehorse in the story; belongs to an Mrs Leverett

Jerry Monk - a jockey

Kevin Thompson - a jockey

Musketeer - a racehorse in the story

Sandarac - a racehorse in the story

Mr Davies - Sian's father

Mark - Mr Davies' assistant

Mrs Fazakerley - a customer at Mr Davies' shop

Grace Williams - worker at Claybrooke; married to Gwylim

Aholibah - a racehorse at Claybrooke;

Quimby - a racehorse in the story

Hollie - a horse in the story

Mr and Mrs Loftshouse - owners of Aholibah

Tandem Leader - a racehorse in the story

Whisky Tan - a racehorse at Claybrooke

Iron Duke - a racehorse at Claybrooke

Diaghilev - a racehorse in the story

Gwylim - an uncle to Madoc (his mother's brother)

Zama - a racehorse at Claybrooke

Carola - a racehorse at Claybrooke

Did Ya See Me - a racehorse at Claybrooke

Bartholmew - a horse in the story

Aiketgate - a stud

Anna Selwyn-Hughes - owner of Aiketgate

 

 

A couple of notes on the Welsh used and the geography of the book:

“Cymru” translates to Wales in English and "Kumri" (p28) is the correct pronounciation.

 

"Bore da" (p43) means "Good Morning" in Welsh.

 

On p106: "How pretty," said Grace. Are your parents Welsh?"

"My mother's family came from Clawdd Newydd, but Dad's from Manchester. The surname's only a concidence," said Sian grasping the new subject with relief. Clawdd Newydd does exist by the way, it's in Denbighshire (North East Wales). It's remote!

 

On p142 and 143, there is mention of Bangor on Dee. Whereas Bangor on Dee has a racecourse (the racecourse is only 8 miles away from me!), it says "as though he considered mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl in mi in bad taste when they hadn't even cross into Clwyd." First of all, Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl in mi is the first line in our Welsh National Anthem (rough translation is The land of my fathers is dear to me; as there is a slight dispute over the English translation). The second point is that Bangor on Dee (and the racecourse) is no longer in the county of Clwyd. That is because in 1996 for some reason the Welsh government changed the names and borders of counties (and it was confusing for us at the time, and still occasionally causes problems today), so Bangor On Dee is now in the county of Wrexham. Against the Odds was published in 1995: a year before Clwyd (as a county) was abolished.

 

On p150 the following is mentioned; the English translation is in brackets:-

 

"Aha, yr eneth dlos!" (Aha, a pretty girl!)

"Fy eneth dlos," (My pretty girl) he said, hugging her, "yr eneth dlos iawn!" (My very pretty girl!)

"Yr ydych chi'n ddrwg" (you're bad) she said, blushing and disengaging herself politely.

"D wyf i ddim!" (I am not!)

 

Similarly on p169, some more Welsh is to be found. Again the English is in brackets.

 

"A ydyw'r Gymraeg yn hawdd?" ("Isn't Welsh easy?")

"Ydyw", he said laughing ("Yes", he said laughing). "You've been practising. How do you come to speak Welsh?"

 

"My grandmother taught me some when I was small. I'm very rusty, I know. Gran used it for a while as a way to get back at Grandadd for leaving Wales after the war". She smiled a little. "I don’t know whether she felt it did him any good; I was only seven when he died".

 

"Whereas, to me, it's my mother tongue. David and my father came from Conwy and you can't get much more insular than that without going into Môn." He raised an eyebrow, testing her.

 

Whereas Conwy does exist, Môn does not directly. What he means is Ynys Môn, which is the Welsh name for Anglesey (an island off North Wales). Conwy is one of the many towns that you come across before crossing one of the two bridges to Anglesey, though Bangor (different place to Bangor on Dee) is the biggest. Conwy is also home to the smallest house in Great Britain, as well as having another connection to a pony book author: Judith Berrisford (who lived nearby). Conwy is also a county; however it was only formed in 1996.  At the time Against the Odds was published Conwy would have been in the county of Gwynedd. Gwynedd as a county still exists: though it is much smaller today than it used to be prior to 1996. The county of Gwynedd is the last mainland county of Wales before you hit Anglesey. So in this case, he was referring to the town itself rather than the county. I know that on p170 there is an mention of Anglesey, but I thought I would explain it in more detail.

 

On p196, there is mention of pen gwyn. Pen gwyn is pronounced the same as "penguin" though in this case pen means "head" and gwyn means white. Pant Coch is mentioned on the same page: Pant means either hollow or valley; Coch means red. In this case, it is not referring to a particular area or village: it's just an generic name.

 

On p198, the sentence "Digon o waith i'w wneud" is used, which translates into "Lots of work to be done". Bore Da is also used, which I have previously translated.

 

Similarly, on p200, this does appear:

 

As Madoc walked away he watched how Sian's eyes followed him, fitting the man into his real surroundings and adjusting to the new slant on his life. "A wyt ti'n ei garu ef?" he asked with a chuckle.

 

Without looking at him she answered, "Ydywf; oh yes." And she felt, rather than saw, him smile at her instant response.

 

A wyt ti'n ei garu ef? translates into "Do you love this?" and "Ydywf" means yes.

 

From p219 there is talk of Chester (both the city and the racecourse).   The Walls, Northgate, Roodee, the Grovensor Bridge (which is the bridge I always go over when I go to Chester!), the River, the Groves, Handbridge, St John's Church and Eastgate, Grosvenor Hotel all exist.  On p222 it says: "On other visits she had usually chosen the wide walk of the Groves, leading on to the park, and sometimes the gardens round the ruins beside St John's church; but today she veered away, the image of the coffin walled into the weatherbeaten sandstone there too much to bear. Legend said an errant nun had been walled up alive in it, and Sian, with Felicity's comments on Afonwen in her mind, knew she could not face that." Well, I have never heard this legend until I read this book, so I can’t verify if this is true or not!