Dolly Palmer was born in 1842 and lived her entire life in a small cottage in Llangwm, Pembrokeshire.

Her village was remarkable in that it was ‘regarded by many as a matriarchy in which the dominant role was played by the adult female’.* The majority of young women worked as fisherwomen and continued to work alongside their husbands after marriage. Dolly’s mother (also Dorothy), married her first husband, Thomas Harbett, in May 1829 and her household duties as  ‘wife’ extended to rowing and navigating fishing boats before carrying the catch to sell (at Haverfordwest, Pembroke, Tenby or Carmarthen), in a pannier on her back.

By 1831, Dorothy senior was widowed for the first time, but soon married a fisherman called Peter Adulph, who fathered two of her children before his untimely death, aged 26. In 1839, she had an illegitimate child before marrying George Llewelyn (father to Dolly Palmer) on January 7^th 1842. The marriage certificate was signed with an ‘X’, revealing that the elder Dorothy was unable to read or write. However, she was clearly expert in her work as the Llangwm fisherwomen were described as ‘excellent “boatmen”, handling the tides, winds, currents and sandbanks as completely as any man’.

Dolly Palmer followed the trail blazed by her mother. During her lifetime, she represented the archetypal Pembrokeshire fisherwoman; her image appearing on postcards, teacups and chocolate boxes. This was perhaps partly due to her reputation as a local beauty as well as the distinctive clothing worn by the women of the area: ‘They wore a flat, black felt hat which had a fairly large brim…They sometimes wore a white scarf under their chin. Their skirts were heavy and dark…Often the skirt was tucked up to reveal a red Welsh flannel petticoat’.

Drawing parallels with the often romanticised Victorian view of rural life and the evolution of the Welsh national costume, it is easy to see why Dolly’s image appeals on 19^th Century memorabilia. Her clothing further included ‘a striped flannel apron, a three-cornered shawl…thick woolen socks and strong boots’. Far from idyllic however, Dolly’s life was one of hard work, resilience and loss. By the time her father died in 1867, she had lost four siblings, and her mother had been widowed three times. Dolly, who married William Palmer in 1863, also lost three of her eight children (Sarah, Dorothy and Ellen). It is easy to see why the fisherwomen were a superstitious group who were said to have thrown stones at strangers, which ‘has been traced back to the 1854 cholera epidemic that swept through the area’.

Dolly Palmer made her journey from Llangwm to Pembroke, Pembroke Dock and Tenby, three times a week for over 70 years; carrying her heavy load of oysters in a pannier on her back. Her surviving daughters followed their mother into the trade and Dolly and William were married for 62 years, until his death in 1925.

Dolly Palmer’s fame was tainted by loss and hardship during her lifetime, but her legacy and determined spirit lives on through the culture and imagery of Wales. She died, aged 91 years, on 28^th February 1932.

Ganed Dolly Palmer yn 1842, a threuliodd ei bywyd cyfan mewn bwthyn bach yn Llangwm, Sir Benfro.

Roedd Llangwm yn  bentref rhyfeddol gan ‘yr ystyrid y pentref gan lawer yn fatriarchaeth lle mai’r fenyw oedd yn llywodraethu’.*  Pysgota oedd gwaith y mwyafrif o’r merched ifainc, ac ar ôl priodi roeddent yn parhau i weithio ochr yn ochr â’u gwŷr. Priododd mam Dolly ei gŵr cyntaf, Thomas Harbett, fis Mai 1829, ac ymhlith ei dyletswyddau fel ‘gwraig tŷ’ oedd rhwyfo a mordwyo cychod pysgota cyn cludo’r pysgod a ddaliwyd i’w gwerthu (yn Hwlffordd, Penfro, Dinbych-y-pysgod neu Gaerfyrddin) mewn cawell ar ei chefn.

Erbyn 1831, roedd Dorothy hyn yn wraig weddw am y tro cyntaf, ond cyn hir roedd wedi priodi pysgotwr o’r enw Peter Adulph, oedd yn dad i ddau o’i phlant cyn ei farwolaeth annhymig yn 26 oed. Ym 1839, cafodd Dolly blentyn anghyfreithlon cyn priodi George Llewelyn (tad Dolly Palmer) ar Ionawr y 7^fed 1842. Llofnodwyd y dystysgrif briodas gydag ‘X’, gan ddatgelu nad oedd Dorothy yn gallu darllen nac ysgrifennu. Er gwaethaf hyn, disgrifiwyd pysgod wragedd Llangwm fel ‘gwragedd trin cychod heb eu hail, yn trin y llanw, y gwyntoedd, y cerrynt a’r traethellau cystal pob dim ag unrhyw ddyn’.

Yn ystod ei hoes, roedd Dolly yn cynrychioli pysgotwraig nodweddiadol Sir Benfro; ei llun yn ymddangos ar gardiau post, cwpanau te a bocsys siocled. Hyn i’w briodoli yn rhannol oherwydd ei henwogrwydd fel merch hardd leol yn ogystal â’r dillad nodedig a wisgwyd gan fenywod yr ardal: ‘Roeddent yn gwisgo het ffelt ddu, wastad oedd â chantel eithaf llydan… Weithiau roeddent yn gwisgo sgarff wen dan eu gên. Roedd eu sgertiau yn drwm ac yn dywyll… Yn aml, roedd y sgert wedi’i thorchi i ddatgelu pais goch o wlanen Gymreig’.

O ystyried rhamant bywyd cefn gwlad ac esblygiad gwisg genedlaethol Cymru, hawdd gweld pam fod delwedd Dolly wedi apelio ar gofroddion yn y 19eg ganrif. Roedd ei dillad hefyd yn cynnwys ‘ffedog wlanen streipiog, siol tri chornel… sanau gwlân trwchus ac esgidiau cryfion’. Serch hynny roedd bywyd Dolly ymhell o fod yn ddelfrydol. Bywyd ydoedd o waith caled, gwytnwch a cholledion. Erbyn i’w trydydd gŵr farw yn 1867, roedd hi wedi colli pedwar o frodyr a chwiorydd ac roedd ei mam yn weddw dair gwaith. Collodd Dolly, a briododd William Palmer ym 1863, dri ohoni wyth o blant (Sarah, Dorothy ac Ellen). Hawdd gweld pam oedd y pysgod wragedd yn ofergoelus fel grŵp y dywedwyd iddynt daflu cerrig at ddieithriaid, arferiad sydd ‘wedi’i olrhain i’r epidemig colera yn 1854 a sgubodd drwy’r ardal’.

Gwnaeth Dolly Palmer ei thaith o Langwm i Benfro, Doc Penfro a Dinbych-y-pysgod deirgwaith yr wythnos am dros 70 mlynedd, yn cario ei llwyth trwm o wystrys mewn cawell ar ei chefn. Nid ei henwogrwydd sy’n flaenaf yn y cof ond ei bywyd o galedi a cholledion, ond mae’r cof amdani yn parhau drwy ein diwylliant a’r delweddau o Gymru. Bu farw yn 91 oed ar yr 28^ain o Chwefror 1932.