In addition to the Richard III Society described above, readers interested in other investigations into the mystery of the missing princes should turn to our Reviews department and look for the review of Royal Blood by Bertram Fields, which also provides a sympathetic picture of King Richard.

CAERPHILLY CONNECTION

I have just received my copy of the October/November 1998 issue of British Heritage and wanted to comment on the excellent issue. The photograph of Caerphilly Castle on the cover made the issue even more special to me.

In May 1997, I finally made my first trip to England and Wales with my wife, daughter, and parents. My mother had worked in the U.S. embassy in London in the early 1950s and arrived just before Queen Elizabeth's coronation.

Having been fascinated with England, my father and I embarked on a genealogical quest several years ago and learned that we were descended from the family of Gilbert de Clare, builder of Caerphilly Castle. We spent two wonderful days in Cardiff, exploring the town of Caerphilly and the wonders of the castle itself. Gazing through the various windows, arrow slits, and open area of the castle, we marvelled at how wonderful it must have been to have seen the castle in its full glory. The main dining hall, stupendous in itself, holds numerous shields and arms of the various owners of the castle over the years, and of families who married into the de Clare dynasty–it also played host to Edward I and his entourage, as his daughter, Princess Joan of Acre, married into the family. The guides and staff of the castle were most generous during our visit, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Mark W. Clark
Louisville, Kentucky

LET'S CALL THE WHOLE THING OFF…

The comments by Mr. William McColly regarding the origin of the name 'Welsh Rarebit/Rabbit' (August/September 1998, page 5), reminded me that my Welsh father was continually irritated by the English pronunciation of this dish as 'Welsh Rabbit'. His explanation was that because cheese could be expensive for people with low incomes, as many people in Britain were in those days, a 'rare bit' of cheese was spread further by this manner of preparation. He was annoyed also that the English didn't take the time to understand the Welsh language as being important and misunderstood the beautiful lilting accent Welsh people have when they say 'rare bit'.

His own recollection as a young child during the Second World War was that his parents encouraged their three children to see who could eat the most bread with a small piece of cheese–without realizing it they were filling their tummies with bread, not bothered by the meagre morsel of cheese allowed on war-time rationing.

Incidentally, the simplest form of this dish is to grate some sharp cheese (Double Gloucester is a good choice) and sprinkle it on toasted bread. (Italian seems to be the closest to English bread that you can buy in the States.) Then grill it, cheese side up, under the broiler until it bubbles and melts.

Lyn Spence
Canton, Michigan

CORRECTIONS

Several readers noticed an error in our feature on Queen Victoria's Scotland (October/November 1998, page 32). The article indicates that Victoria was 23 years old in 1847. Actually, she was born in 1819, which would have made her 28 at the time of her visit to the Highlands.

Also, the feature on Admiral Nelson in the same issue (page 40) describes an encounter between Nelson and the future King William IV. At the time of the encounter, William was Duke of Clarence, not Prince of Wales, as stated.

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The Editors of BRITISH HERITAGE enjoy hearing from readers and would like to answer all correspondence. Unfortunately, time does not permit this but whenever possible and appropriate, we will include readers' letters with occasional editorial comment in these columns. We do request that writers include their names and addresses, and we reserve the privilege of editing letters to be published for reasons of space and clarity. Letters should be addressed to: The Editors, BRITISH HERITAGE, P.O. Box 8200, Harrisburg, PA 17105.

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