How the Welsh Ladies Saved a Nation

Date: 2020-03-10

The story goes that there was a French invasion in Fishguard, Wales 1797. They landed near Llanwnda and looted the locals taking all their wine and naturally enjoying it there and then (a Portuguese ship had shipwrecked the week before and the contents were ‘rescued’ by the locals). The French were now very drunk and unable to fight. The invasion collapsed and the French surrendered. When reading the surrender agreement, it refers that there was several thousand British Redcoats advancing the French but in actuality there were only a few hundred there. Since this was quite a rural area, hundreds of Welsh women had heard about the commotion and went to see what was happening. They would have all been in traditional dress with their red cloaks and black hats. From a distance the drunken French may have mistaken these Welsh ladies as British Grenadiers!