December 28th- Hapus

Today we have moved on to the tale of the Third Branch of the Mabinogion, in The Mab it's known as Happily Ever After, or in Cymraeg, Hapus am Byth (u is pronounced with sound closer to i, so this would be said Hapis). This, after all, is the traditional end of fairy tales, or at least the ones that have been sanitised to not give children nightmares. In this case though there really is a happy ending. You can find a retelling and further discussion of the story online here. 
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As part of this story our protagonists, Manawydan, Rhiannon, Pryderi and Cigfa had to leave Wales, and earn a living in England. They take up numerous crafts, and every time are forced out of business by the existing local craftsmen. This was quite typical of the time, you couldn't just turn up and set up in business. At the time of the Mabinogion the Guild structure was well established in British towns, Guilds controlled who could and couldn't trade, and effectively operated a price control system and quality control system. 

One of the crafts that Manawydan and Pryderi try to practise is saddle making. The story is incredibly specific about the kind of saddles that they were making, Manawydan created pommels decorated using blue enamel, a skill he had learned from Llasar Llaesgynwyd. After they were forced to leave the town they then set themselves up as shield makers, again using the beautiful blue enamel. Predictably, when that also led to them being ran out of town they set themselves up a further time as shoe makers. This time abandoning the blue enamel, and instead using the best Cordovan leather and using gold filigree buckles. 
​This might well be how they made these shoes. 

There's lots of this beautiful orange called Hapus in the shop should you feel the need to top up your 12 Days Sample, or just fall in love with the colour.