It's the name "Gwladys" that startled me. It was obviously Welsh, and seemed related to the modern "Gladys," so I searched the word today. The OED has a few Gw-- words, but not this proper one; it's the same in the Random House Dictionary.
In Wikipedia, Gwladys is the name of a queen and the mother of the most famous Welsh saint, Cadoc the Wise. It appears that all of her other children also became saints: Cynidr, Bugi, Cyfyw, Maches, Glywys II and Egwine. She must have been very godly (or very well connected).
But - on to the Gladys connection. Gladys is a variation of the Roman Claudia/Claudius, itself derived from the Latin claudus, meaning "lame" (I presume thus the emperor's name).
You learn something every day.
Addendum: These comments by Anonymous are worth moving to the front:
P. G. Wodehouse makes fun of it in his Jeeves and Wooster books. The televised version of J&W also has a Gwladys in it (Season 4, set in New York)
Jeeves: Ladies who spell Gwladys with a W are seldom noted for their reliability. It gives them romantic notions.
Wooster: With a W, Jeeves? No, no. You spell it with a G.
J: If I might draw your attention
to the signature, sir.
W: Good Lord! G-W?
J: I blame Alfred Lord Tennyson and his Idylls Of The Kings. It also accounts for Kathryn, Isybel and Ethyl all spelt with a Y. But Gwladys is a particularly virulent form.
P. G. Wodehouse makes fun of it in his Jeeves and Wooster books. The televised version of J&W also has a Gwladys in it (Season 4, set in New York)
ReplyDeleteJeeves: Ladies who spell Gwladys with a W are seldom noted for their reliability. It gives them romantic notions.
Wooster: With a W, Jeeves? No, no. You spell it with a G.
J: If I might draw your attention
to the signature, sir.
W: Good Lord! G-W?
J: I blame Alfred Lord Tennyson and his Idylls Of The Kings. It also accounts for Kathryn, Isybel and Ethyl all spelt with a Y. But Gwladys is a particularly virulent form.
The most famous Welsh saint?, well, Cadoc the Wise would rate somewhat below Saint David, patron saint of Wales, but even Saint David must step aside as Wales' most famous saint, for the one whose saint's day is celebrated worldwide by people who would not be able to point at Wales on a map of the world.
ReplyDeleteThe most famous welsh saint is of course, Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland.
I've never, so far as I know, met a Gwladys, though my mother is welsh through and through. I'll have to ask her about Gwladyses, maybe I have a distant cousin Gwladys somewhere.
Thinking of the Roman Gladys/Claudius connection led me to ponder the roman short-sword, the Gladius, as used by Gladiators, and legionaries. I wonder if some Gladyses were sharp and pointy?