Huddle 'up

        Playing sports was an expected part of my growing-up days in central Kentucky. Of course, "Go Big Blue" was the only game in town but, a few folks, would allow football as a second choice. My one year of American football (1964-1965) at age 14, was just about the right time for those male hormones to bang around that football field. Each team had a quarterback, who called the plays. When they had the ball (call offence) and, all 11 players would gather around in a tightly packed circle called a huddle. The start of each play was called and, the game would begin here. It was generally believed that all players would remember their assigned tasks for this play designated. Hum, ... how many plays were there in the playbooks? Anyhow, the huddle became the place where new visions could be suggested after the last one flopped on the field.

       My genealogy head twisted about to this memory and realized that many, many times my need was a play call. This would help move my decisions on down the branches of my Jones surname family tree. Who's the quarterback anyway? Where are all the teammates? Such a complex network of factors surrounded the many possible direction in the decision-making process. All kinds of knots and twist needed to be considered, contemplated, reviewed, recognized, and handled, as a group, or individually, at any one point in time. A host of issues or, was it web of confusion, that these walls presented themselves along the way, to many, if not all, the genealogist climbing out their family tree. Well let's see if it might be helpful to call a huddle (conceptually) to all those factors. At least from the period of my Jones surname ancestors as they began their new generations after the "Black-Death".

       Now the major cultural teams playing against one-another (and my ancestors) in their football field of life can be visualized as follows [shown previously 19 February 2025 in post "Incessant Warfare"]:

      It is my suggestion that each group of folks shown above have their own huddle concentrated at one post per team (cultural group). This would give each huddle a way to center the factors (forces) by discussion among those who might be interested. Hopefully, it would give a clearer picture of how this huddle group was distinct among my family tree but, not genetically connected. A distinction between each may help all other tree climbers of the Jones surname untie some of the often-twisted branches. So ... let's huddle 'up!

P.S. From my earlier days tried to help with blog The Brick Wall Protocol started August 6, 2011. https://thebrickwallprotocol.blogspot.com

The Grass Still Grows

       Always amazing for me, was how my Celtic, to become Welsh, yet still to become my Jones surname ancestors survived each new day among the hills of the Clwyd. Staying alive, while finding yourself still alive, would certainly be high on everyone's "to do list"! Since my 1950's, B&W T.V. days [see post November 2, 2015], "Circle the Wagons" would be a basic principle to be applied but, guess not many folks left to wheel the wagons following the 1350s. 

       Let's see now, there was Howel (JM-1), son of Llewelyn (JL-1), who was the eldest son of Iorwerth (JK-1) all down the family tree from that homestead place called Llwyn-Ynn [see posts of September 26, 2024, and August 28, 2023]. Gather all the sheep and guide them southeast, to that wool ready location at Oswestry. Herd all the cattle northeast to that other family place called Llwyn-Onn (at Wrexham) with their hides, skins, and meat. Having repeated this family occupation for generations, it would seem a good idea to keep things going the best way we know [see post September 23, 2023].  A little like "circling the wagons". Anyway, the grass still grows "among them there hills" as we would say in my part of the world!

P.S. Here is a scan of that Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) which in the Welsh can be written in the plural as Ynn or Onn. How about that!

From the glossary in the book by Ruth Thomas titled South Wales, published 1977 starting page 206. On page 208 she gives "Ash tree", "Onnen (pl. onn, ynn).