The historic town has always been proud of its literary links with Hungary, which stem from Hungarian poet János Arany’s 160-year-old ballad ‘The Bards of Wales’ – an allegorical poem set in Montgomery Castle which most Hungarian children must learn at school.
The video, produced by members of Montgomery Town Council – including the Mayor himself – has attracted over 50,000 views across social media within weeks, and has been the subject of national television and radio programmes in Hungary.
Alongside leading national outlets Index, Mandiner and Startlap spreading the word, millions could hear about and watch Montgomery’s touching gesture on national television channel M5, as well as on leading national radio Kossuth Rádió.
“We’re overwhelmed by the response to our short film and are touched by all the messages we have received from Hungarians. Montgomery has an intriguing connection with Hungary, and it’s wonderful to know that many generations of Hungarians have learnt the name of our little town at school.
“When we found out about Magyar Cymru’s delightful video message to Wales over the summer, we knew we had to respond. So, despite the challenging times, our video project was conceived, to share our beautiful little town of Montgomery with the people of Hungary.”
Magyar Cymru founder Balint Brunner, who coordinated the original video message from Hungarians which inspired Montgomery to respond, added:
“Thanks to this famous ballad, Montgomery is perhaps better known in Hungary than Cardiff or any other Welsh city. However, we were very surprised and delighted to learn just how much locals value their links to far-away Hungary.”
Leave a Reply
View Comments