Have you or anyone you know ever heard of bando? Perhaps you know someone who actually played this traditional old Welsh sport? Considering its popularity, particularly in South-West Wales over such a long period it’s surprising how few people know about it today (although you may remember the character Dai Bando in ‘How Green Was My Valley’, who famously expressed his displeasure with the schoolteacher for punishing his pupils when they spoke Welsh in class).
© Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales
From what’s been discovered so far, bando was played in a somewhat similar fashion to the Irish game of hurling or possibly the Scottish game of shinty. It could therefore be regarded as a pre-cursor of modern hockey; indeed, there’s evidence of bando being exported to Scandinavia, where it’s known as bandy and played on ice.
These on-line articles provide a useful introduction to the history of the game:
The bando stick shown in the title of this article has been taken from a photo on the Museum Wales website. It dates to around 1845 and belonged to Thomas Thomas, who was a member of the Margam bando boys (see below).
The widespread extent of the game as a mass participation sport from at least the eighteenth century and through into the early years of the twentieth is evident in the online resources available from the National Library’s archives. It was played informally by children in the streets as well as more formally by adults of one parish challenging an adjacent parish. This would usually take place on a beach, since it was the largest expanse of flat ground available. The game was also played in all areas of the country: Lloyd George, for example was reputed to have been a keen player in his youth. It’s also clear that skilled players were held in high esteem in their localities and many put great effort into perfecting their craft and honing their fitness. One account tells of Thomas Robert, a Taibach boy who “was the leading sportsman of the age” and kept fit by running around Kenfig pool 3 times every day – a total of 9 miles.
Margam Bando Boys, excerpt clipped from The Cambrian newspaper. The National Library of Wales archive
Our specific interest in this corner of the country arises mainly from the undoubted fame – in their day – of teams playing in the west of Glamorgan, most notably the Margam bando boys as they were known. Their exploits were celebrated in song and rhyme, a version of which – composed in a mixture of Welsh and English – is shown in this newspaper clipping from “The Cambrian” newspaper of 22nd December 1899. The full song is attached below.
It’s arguably fair to think of them as the bando equivalent of the All Blacks in rugby (although there was fierce rivalry with other local teams, including Pyle and Llanilltud Fawr). There are accounts, for example of several thousand people watching matches – as described in one of the photos shown here. It was kindly supplied by Mr Gareth Maund and recounts the match held on Cynffig beach on 31st March 1871. The other photo shows an original bando stick held by the daughter of its owner, David Rees who was one of the original Margam bando boys.
Mrs Janet Davis with Bando stick & an account of Cynffig beach match 1871. Courtesy of Mr Gareth Maund
Inevitably, not everyone was appreciative of the merits of the game – particularly those who felt young people should spend the Sabbath in chapel rather than engaging in sports such as bando. A letter discovered in the archives of the famous poet, Iolo Morgannwg sent from James Price in Pyle on 7th April 1777 to Rhys Thomas in Cowbridge contains a lament for the impact on the trees of the district due to the manufacture of bando sticks:
“In my journey through your town to this place this day I observed with great disgust the extraordinary barrenness of your country in ash and elm, not a young elm to be seen in your thick bushy hedges and the borders of your green fields so richly laced with thorns and briars and fitted to shelter young saplings yet without any ash growing among them as I was advancing every step increased my contempt till I was overtaken by a good looking countryman to whom I communicated my displeasure.
Alas, said he do you observe these vast crowds of people before you drawing towards the sea … He informed me … they were going to a great Bandy Match to be played this day on a particular sand near the seashore where many thousands of people, men, women and children will be assembled to see the sport, that it is the 16th match played this spring … the inhabitants of a dozen more parishes are in an uproar and mind little besides these matches tis computed there are in each of these parishes upwards of hundred Gamesters including young boys who are initiating that each gamester furnisheth himself with three Bandys if we add three more which are destroyed by unskillful bending and the great number broke by thumping thwacking and breaking each others heads not a bandy returning from some of those matches it will make six hundred in every parish annually”.
Even allowing for some exaggeration, it’s clear that this was a widely practised activity.
It’s also clear that while the laws of the game weren’t formalised or administered by a governing body they were probably moving in that direction before the game was superseded by the newly emerging sports of football and rugby with their respective associations and unions. The Margam bando boys, for example disbanded upon the death of their captain, Theodore Talbot (the heir to the Margam estate) in 1876. It should be noted that this was the year that Aberafan Rugby Club was formed, so it’s probably not too fanciful to suppose that at least some of the former bando players would have taken up the new sport.
Bearing in mind the historical connection to Margam it seems particularly appropriate to showcase this traditional game at next May’s Urdd eisteddfod, which will run from 26th to 31st May, 2025 in Margam Park. Work is underway by a dedicated band of volunteers to make this a reality – but there’s much to do: codifying suitable rules; sourcing/making equipment; etc.
If you’d like to join us in bringing this project to fruition, please leave a comment on our Facebook page: Bando (“the ancient game”), where you can also discover more about the game and ongoing developments. If you can add to our knowledge of the game (with artefacts or personal recollections) please do get in touch: you can do so via the Facebook page.
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