PatrickMead.net

From now on, we enter a new chapter. The Welsh are in America well before the year 1200; that we know. One group migrated into Eastern Tennessee, North Georgia, and then back into Middle Tennessee before we lose them. It is assumed that they were assimilated into tribes that lived in that area and all [...]

I have tried, without success, to count all the references made by early explorers to finding “Welsh Indians” or coming upon Indians who understood or spoke some words in Welsh. Some confusion comes from the white explorers who were desperate to find a way to claim the land for England. If the Spanish or French [...]

In Houston this last week, I had a little time before my next speaking appointment so I popped into a Borders bookstore. Knowing that I had gone through the books I had brought with me (I seem to read a lot faster in airports and airplanes than I do sitting at home), I picked up [...]

The Cherokee have their own way of remembering and relating their history. Suffice it to say, it drives some of us white Europeans crazy. They are not alone, however. Even the Bible was written in a Semitic style where the story’s point was far more important than its chronology. Some people, who don’t understand that [...]

The Welsh were settlers, but they were few and outnumbered by native tribes who did not welcome them. The fortifications — now gone — five miles outside of Gadsden, AL were well built but too small to hold all of them. They abandoned that fort not long after it was finished and retreated east until [...]

Twenty seven years after Columbus first sailed to the New World, a Portuguese mapmaker drew a map of the Gulf of Mexico. He labeled the mouth of Mobile Bay as “Tierra do los Gales” or, the “land of the Gaels.” At that time (1519), The Portuguese referred only to those in Wales or the islands [...]

We know from the records of ancient and medieval bards that Madoc was known in Provence and Brittany when he was still a young man. Based out of Norse-held Ireland, a sailor of great renown and skill, he would have known of Erik the Red, Leif Eriksson, and other adventurers who had sailed west in [...]

I’ve written about Madoc before, but we need to do so again to put him in the narrative that we are building. Between the last Hidden History blog and this one I have left out the story of the Vikings. Perhaps one day I will do that timeline for you but since most know that [...]

I’m at the national conference for youth ministries this week. I’m speaking in just a couple hours and boy do I have to bring my A game! Rich Little, Chris Seidman, and Jonathan Storment have already spoken to the assembly and they were absolutely fantastic. Rich is from Napierville, Il (Chicago) since 2001. He is [...]

Over the years I have collected quite a wide range of instruments. A little over a year ago I decided that I didn’t want to enlarge my stable without thought; buying just to buy. That is how I ended up with some instruments I just never played. I have sold quite a few since coming [...]