CHAPTER 3 - 1854 - CHARLES COX WEDDING

Act I, scene 3
 
Date: July 15th, 1854

Scene: Royal Hotel in Llangollon, for the stag party of Charles Cox before his wedding to Eliza which is to take place at the Rehobath Chapel the next morning, with Rev. Jones officiating.

Present: Charles Walker, Lindsay Hall, Robert Hall, Harry Lomax, Ebenezer (Ben) Lomax, 27, Edward Cox and Charley Cox, George Thackray, 20.

They are all sitting around a table in the public bar of the hotel with pints of ale in front of them.

Charles, George, Lindsay, and Robert are already seated, as they are residents at the Hotel. Charley, Harry and Ben come in and join them.

Charley: (shaking hands all around) Welcome to Llangllon. May I introduce Ben Lomax, Eliza’s oldest brother to you. These are my best friends from the olden days, Charles Walker, Lindsay Hall, and Lindsay’s brother Robert. George Thackray is another of my many cousins. Let me get in some drinks.

Landlord, Mr. Thomas Davies: (comes over to the table from the bar) And what will you be having, sir?

Charley: Three pints of your local brew, Mr. Davies. And can I top you up, gentlemen?

Charles: No thank you. We have just started these and they will do for awhile yet.

Landlord: Very good sir. (He goes to get the drinks, brings them back on a tray, and serves them.)

Charles: Add it to my tab, will you, my man?

Landlord: Certainly sir.

Charles: Well, here’s to you Charley. Many long and happy years to you and the fair Eliza. The best man won, and I am still smarting from the fact that I didn’t make a move before you - but that’s all in the past now.

(They all stand, raise their glasses and toast Charley, and take a swig of ale)

All: To Charley and Eliza. (They sit down again.)

Charley: Thanks men. I am so pleased that you all made it here. But isn’t this a wonderful place. And the weather couldn’t be better for us. Eliza was so hoping it would be a nice day. Nobody wants to get married in the rain. She told me the history of stag nights. Do any of you know? Well, it first came about in the fifth century, in Sparta, where military comrades would feast and toast one another on the eve of a friend's wedding. Anyway, how did you find your journey, George?

George: Well, it was really quite straight forward, I went from York to Manchester, then changing to the Holyhead train. I got off at Whitehurst Halt near Froncysyllte and found that the hotels run a ‘taxi’ service from the station to Llangollon which made it all very convenient indeed. (To Ben) Have you lived here long, Ben?

Ben: Father died in 1845 and as I managed to get a job at the English School here, mother and our youngest brother, Lapent who is now 15, opted to come with me. We have been here about five years now.

Lindsay: What do you teach?

Ben: I have my degree in mathematics and classics, but I teach all the science subjects as well.

Charles: So remind us, Charley, when and where are we to go for the big day?

Charley: It’s at the Rehobath Chapel, right in the centre of town, you can’t miss it and it starts at 11 sharp. I’ll need my faithful attendants there by half past ten, if that’s all right lads. Eliza says we must be there early.

Robert: You are staring to sound henpecked already, Charley lad.

Charley: Not a bit of it. You couldn’t find a better wife, who is also a friend, if you tried.

Harry: You might think like that now, but I have seen her in moods that you wouldn’t want to know about. (They all laugh)

Ben: The English School used to be located at that chapel when it was first started, but now we have a fine new building up in the hills. That is where we will have the reception and dinner.

Charles: So nice to see you again, Harry. Are you still on your apprenticeship?

Harry: Yes, I have another couple of years. But Mr. Holt let me have this week off to be here to help out. I am giving Eliza away, you know. Although Ben could have done the job, I am the one who has spent the last five years with Eliza, so she asked me to do it.

Lindsay: And WE THREE witches will be together again tomorrow, with us as your joint supporters. You trust, Charles here, do you Charley? Don’t you know that he might come out with an objection to you getting married at the last minute. He might say something like, “I saw her first. She should be mine.”

Charles: I can see that I will never be allowed to live that down.

Charley: I keep telling you, Charles, it is long ago forgiven and forgotten. You are the one who usually brings it up. But what about your love life? Are you planning on walking down the aisle anytime soon?

Charles: My love life has been one disaster after another, but I keep hoping. But Lindsay, I expect our next get together will be for you and Emily. Have you set the date?

Robert: Actually, I think I might get in before him. You can congratulate me, gentlemen. I am an engaged man.

Charley: Congratulations. We must drink to your health. You have kept that a big secret. Who is she? Do we know her?

Robert: Yes, you all do. It’s Mary Holt.

Charles: But she is only a child. You are years older than she is.

Robert: Yes, 10 years to be precise, but I knew from that day at your party, Charles, back in 1850, when she was only 15, that she was the one for me, and I just had to wait awhile for her to grow up.
 
Charley: Let’s have another toast. (They all stand and raise their glasses) To Robert and Mary.
All: To Robert and Mary (They sit down again.)

Charles: That will please your families, as you and the Holts have been close for such a long time.

Robert: Well, Lindsay is about the only family I have left now. Alison says as soon as we brothers get married, she will be off to Switzerland. But the Holt family seem pleased to have me numbered amongst them. We do all get along so well.

Lindsay: I remember back in 1851 when we went with the Holts on holiday in Wales. You were there too Charley, weren’t you?

Charley: And Eliza. But we were too busy with getting to know each other better to pay much attention to the rest of you. Did you know the Rawlins brothers are coming from Wrexham for the wedding? It will be good to see them again.

Lindsay: Oh, that is good news indeed. I certainly enjoyed our time with them, finding out how to manufacture paper - as well as all the fun we had larking around the countryside. I expect there are some good walks around here, Ben. Where do you recommend we go on Sunday, for an outing, before our trains back home?

Ben: I think the best walk around is up to Castell Dinas Bran. The ruins have a wonderful overlook of Llangllon from their hilltop position. The word Dinas meant a fortress, Bran is generally taken to refer to a ‘raven’ or a ‘crow’, but apart from this literal interpretation there is myth about it.

A duke of Cornwall in ancient times won the crown by conquest and on his death bed left his kingdom to his twin sons, Beli and Bran. The two heirs quarrelled and were about to clash in battle when their mother, Queen Corwena, made a plea to them for peace. Her sons obeyed and Beli settled in New Troy, (London you know) whilst Bran journeyed north to build the fortress Dinas Bran.

Edward Cox: I’d enjoy a good outing. I don’t seem to share any of your memories of outings. You two seem closer to Charley, than I am, and I am his brother.

Charles: How is your sketching getting on these days Edward. Did you bring your sketch pad with you? I’m sure you could get some good views here to record for posterity.

Edward: Yes, of course. I am never without it. How I wish father would have let me be the artist I want to be, rather than the Cotton Broker that he insists we both are. He had the sign, Edward Cox and Sons (plural, you notice) painted and ready to hang before we started our apprenticeships. I wish I was bold enough to tell him that my real love is not in being a businessman, and that I know that I might be penniless, but if I was doing what I really want to do, I would be pleased to be poor, as I would be so much happier.

Charley: You make it sound like a penitentiary sentence, Edward. You know the job isn’t that bad and you can always do your odd bit of sketching on the weekends. If you didn’t have a healthy income, you wouldn’t have that choice. You would have to be doing whatever it was that you needed to do in order to buy bread - maybe painting portraits of those rich people you seem so much to scorn.

Edward: Well, now that I am married, I can see the sense of what you say. I couldn’t expect Marianne to starve with me, just for the sake of my art. And now, you know, we have a baby expected in a few months’ time.

Charles: Congratulations, that is very good news. Time for another toast. We must get another round in.(He signals the bar man who brings them another round) To Edward, Marianne and the baby.
All: (standing and raising their glasses) To Edward, Marianne and the baby.

Charley: Well since this is my last night as a single man,  you can all tell stories about the awful things we got up to when we were learning what it was to be men in Liverpool, eh, Lindsay and Charles.

(They all laugh, and the curtain comes down.)