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The infant died suddenly on January 10, 1884 and Price took the body onto the hilltop of East Caerlan where he cremated it in a container of paraffin oil. This 'vicious act of blasphemy' caused a riot in the town, and crowds led by chapel deacons, dragged the corpse from the flames as the 'blasphemer' was arrested. He had deeply mourned the untimely death of this son Iesu Grist, who was to restore the "lost secrets of the Druids to the earth".
On the hilltop, chanting wild laments over the napkin-covered body, he had offered the boy to the elements. Some enraged people, rushing up the hillside, assaulted him by threatening to throw his elderly body into the burning flames, and called the police. The criminal trial that followed aroused interest not only in England, but throughout the world, enough for the father of the Sherlock Holmes tales to write his first published work on the Welsh eccentric himself. In March, he conducted his own defence brilliantly at the Cardiff Crown Court trial over his son's cremation, a typical showman who played to the crowded gallery, claiming, 'It is not right that a carcass should be allowed to rot and decompose in this way. It results in a wastage of good land, pollution of the earth, water and air, and is a constant danger to all living creatures.' He was acquitted by Justice Stephens, paving the way for the passing of the Cremation Act of 1902. Price was bold enough to challenge existing beliefs and defy convention, question the justice system, poured scorn on orthodox religion, despised the law and belittled medical theories.
Dr Price 1875
Often been seen walking the mountains naked, reciting Welsh poetry, or parading through the town dressed in a white tunic, scarlet waistcoat, green trousers and fox-skin hat, carrying the Druidic symbols of a burning torch and crescent moon, his mind later fell prey to a form of schizophrenia, claiming that Homer was from Caerphilly, and confusing himself with a 12th century Welsh Prince. Fathering numerous children, he was well into his 80s when his housekeeper, 60 years his junior, bore him two other offspring called Penelopen and Iesu Grist II (later renamed Nicholas). After a fall he took to his settee and died at 9pm on Monday, January 23 1893 uttering the last words, 'Give me champagne.' His own cremation, for which he left full instructions, took place on the same hilltop; with 20,000 people assembling to watch the iron coffin set alight. A carnival atmosphere prevailed and the twenty or more pubs in Llantrisant ran dry during the height of the day-long festivities. It is not in his sartorial exploits, pagan amorality or Druidic practices that Dr. Price claims attention in the story of Wales. He is of interest as a true son of rebellion. He understood that showmanship can be helpful to causes. His ringing speeches contain truth to us today but were heresy in his time. He saw the industrial development for what it was, and the dinginess behind the magnificent Victorian facade, and the mischief wrought by unimaginative and greedy industrialists, to say nothing of the half-educated medical practitioners and he saw the harm a mishandled religion could do in an uneducated working class population. Denouncing religion in all forms, he claimed that only nature was worth worshipping and man had created God in his own image. |
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Dr Price lying in state 1893
A revolutionary with a zest for living, Dr Price was certainly a majestic figure of high romance who prided himself upon his knowledge of druidic lore and like some wraith of a pagan past he practised his dark rites to the ill-disguised approval of his neighbours.
He longed for the golden age of Wales ruled by the druids. On moonlit evenings while grim chapels preached their puritanical doctrine to a congregation groaning in a sense of original sin and while the pits and the ironworks clanged in the new industrial era, Price was high above at the druid's stones, at one with nature.
He infuriated and frightened, but above all was one of the most brilliant and far-seeing men the nation has ever produced. Despite the passing of time and the growth of the many stories associated with this man, it has become almost impossible to separate fact from fiction as the myth of the doctor grows more stronger in the annals of Welsh history. Evidently an eccentric, his behaviour may have bewildered those around him, however, what cannot be denied is the mark he made not only as the prime-mover to legalise cremation but the wonderfully unique role he played in a particularly drab, poverty-stricken Victorian Wales.
His eyes filled with fiery activity, he was a man bold enough to challenge existing beliefs and to defy conventions. He questioned the justice of the social system; poured scorn on orthodox religion, despised the law and its administrators, and decried the morality of a puritanical society. Courting controversy was as natural as the air he breathed, but he displayed behaviour which shocked.
A firm believer in vegetarianism with a flair of compassion and vision, his renown as a healer was widespread, though it his doubtful his methods would meet with the approval of today's medics. His impressive generosity and his willingness to place his professional services gratuitously at the disposal of the poor, endeared him to the many who benefited from his skill. Price's medical reputation survives untarnished. Whether he wished to introduce cremation as a hygienic measure or simply to perform druidic rites, remains unanswered. Was he a performer, a political idealist and a scholar on ancient Wales, or were these the products of a disorder of the kind that sought a stage for exhibitionism' His love of nature and people was far superior to the hypocrisy of officialdom, and the narrow-mindedness which prevailed amongst the ordinary people of his time. His foxskin hat and green and red uniform which he favoured were familiar to the courts of law, where he relentlessly pursued a litigious career. Blunt and forthright to patients who would consult him when other more orthodox methods had failed, he was undoubtedly fearless in support of Wales and its rich culture and language. Dr William Price was a fascinating, romantic legend and around his name have been woven fantastic tales that will live to bewilder and delight generations to come.
"Dr William Price was certainly a figure of high romance. It was as though a composite creature had stepped out of the pages of Old Testament history and, in his passage through the centuries, had enriched his personality from the flow of all the hidden streams of myth and legend."
ECCENTRIC: The Life of Dr William Price by Dean Powell (2005) - available from dean@llantrisant.net
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