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“So Who are the Welsh, anyway?”
I was going to study Mongolia for a paper I’m writing for a class in my
MBA – Global Management program, but as I was taking a quick peek at the entries
for the United Kingdom in the Economist Intelligence Unit, I found something
disturbing. The Economist Intelligence
Unit has made an interesting assumption that all the nations within the UK are
English, and have English values. Wales,
Scotland and Ireland are not differentiated between. But guess what - Wales does not have the same
value system as England. For that
matter, neither does Ireland, Cornwall, Northern Ireland or Scotland. I draw from my experience as the webmistress
for the Welsh league of Arizona over the last three years, and my membership in
Clan Johnston/e in America for the last four years, as well as my studies of
Celtic history and culture over the last 10 years, when I assert that, in the
nations occupied by England, the only two things that unite them in the
“United” Kingdom are 1) their Celtic roots and 2) their hatred of the English
and Romans. This animosity is so deep, it’s embedded in the language. Indeed, the Welsh word for “English” is
“Sais”, which is literally “Saxon”. The
word for English, meaning the language, is “Saisneg”. The word “Wales” is derived from the
Anglo-Saxon word “Weolas” which means “foreigner” or “enemy”. The word “weapon”
has the same root. The Welsh called
themselves “Cymry” which means “companions”, and “Welsh” is “Cymraeg” – the
language of Companions.
Cymru, Hen wlad fy Nhadau – Wales,
Old Land of My Fathers
Capitol: Caerdydd (Cardiff). In 2008, Caerdydd will be the European
Capitol of Culture. Population as
of 2002: 3 million Main
industry: agriculture and mining, and now e-commerce.
As of May 2000, a little over 500,000
people speak Welsh today, or about 18% of the three million people who live in
Wales. The total United Kingdom population is around 60 million people. Less than 1% of the entire UK population
speaks Welsh. This is remarkable when
you realize that in 1300, Welsh was the native
language of Great Britain. Indeed,
William Wallace, immortalized by Mel Gibson in “Braveheart”,
was a Welsh speaker.
Hanes
cor Cymru – A Short History of Wales
Wales fought off the Romans, the
Saxons and the Normans for over a thousand years before finally falling to the hostile
take-over of the English. Despite
generations of alternating between war and diplomacy, the English government
could not coerce the Welsh to accept their rule, so in 1283 AD, King Edward
I (a.k.a. Edward Longshanks) decided on treachery and murder. The following is a compilation from the
following sources:, Cymuned, the BBC, Data-Wales, and John
Davies, and other sources (see Works Consulted, at the end of this paper).
Llewellyn Fawr and Llewellyn Olaf
The Norman kings sought to weaken the
power of the Welsh kingdoms in the 1200s. The princes of Gwynedd reacted by
trying to unite Wales. Llewellyn ap Iorwerth
(a.k.a. Llewellyn Fawr – the Great) had the daunting task to trying to unite
the Welsh princes against the invaders.
He knew that should the Normans and later the English succeed in ruling
Wales, the Welsh people would suffer terribly, and the Welsh way of life would
die. But like Vercingetorix before him
who battled Julius Caesar, he failed in uniting the headstrong Celts. It was his grandson, Llewellyn ap Gruffydd (a.k.a. Llewellyn Olaf – the Last) who won
recognition as prince of Wales in 1267, with authority over the other Welsh
rulers. In 1273, Llewellyn Olaf refused to pay
homage to the new English king, Edward I, who in 1276 invaded Wales and
compelled Llewellyn to submit to humiliating terms, including the surrender of
the eastern portion of his lands and the annual acknowledgement of fealty.
Llewellyn rebelled in 1282, but was killed in battle.
Llewellyn ap
Gruffydd’s brother David ap Gruffydd carried on the struggle for Wales,
and was captured in 1283. He was
imprisoned for several years, then awarded the most brutal and torturous
death. His was the first known incident
of death by being drawn, quartered, hung and beheaded in British history. 30
years later, William Wallace of Scotland also suffered this fate at the
hands of King
Edward I.
In 1284 Edward I completed the conquest of Wales and, by the
terms of the Statute of Rhuddlan, it became an English principality. To ensure
his control, Edward I built a string of powerful castles, including the castles
at Harlech, Beaumaris on Anglesey, and Caernarfon.
But Wales was not united with England. The March continued as a series of
lordships, while Llewellyn's territories were divided into the counties of
Anglesey, Caernarfon, Meirionydd,
Flintshire, Cardiganshire, and Carmarthenshire. The Welsh clamoured
for a prince who “spoke no English”. To
appease them, King Edward I gave the title Prince of Wales to his infant son,
born 1284, who indeed spoke no English.
To this day, this title is given to the infant sons of the English
monarchy. In that same year, Edward
built the city of Flynt in northern Wales, in which
no Welsh were permitted to live, unless they were slaves or servants for the
English. A number of such towns sprang
up in Wales during Edward Longshank’s rule.
Owain Glyndwr
The Welsh national spirit survived English conquest, however.
In the following 200 years literature flourished; poets wrote alliterative
verse known as cyn ghahedd.
Bards kept Welsh oral traditions alive, and towns and trade developed. When
Henry IV seized the English throne, a revolt began in Wales, which, under the
leadership of Owain Glyndwr in 1402,
became formidable. Glyndwr set up a separate parliament for Wales, 
and although Henry IV's forces led by
his son (later Henry V) invaded the country and won several battles, the revolt
was not finally suppressed until the death of Glyndwr in about 1416. Glyndwr's
was the last nationalist uprising and his defeat left the Welsh considerably
embittered. The Welsh supported Henry Tudor (later Henry VII) in his
pursuit of the English crown, regarding him as their countryman. However, Tudor
policy under Henry VII and his successors towards Wales stressed assimilation.
Ymosod ar Iaith
Gymraeg - Attack on the Welsh Language
The Act of Union of 1536
incorporated the Welsh Marches with England.
This was possibly the most painful of treasons to the Welsh. The former
lordships were divided into the counties of Denbighshire, Montgomeryshire,
Radnorshire, Breconshire, Monmouthshire,
Glamorganshire, and Pembrokeshire, and their
inhabitants received all the rights and privileges of English subjects. The Act of Union (1536) was an attempt to
doom Welsh language and culture to extinction:
“Also be it enacted by the authority
aforesaid that all justices, Commissioners, sheriffs, coroners, escheators,
stewards and their Lieutenants, and all other officers and ministers of the
law, shall proclaim and keep the sessions, courts … in the English tongue, and
all oaths of officers, juries and inquests and all other affidavits … to be
given and done in the English tongue; and also that from henceforth no person or
persons that use the Welsh speech or language shall have or enjoy any manner
office or fees within this realm of England, Wales or other the King's Dominion
upon pain of forfeiting the same offices or fees, unless he or they use and
exercise the English speech or language.”
Welsh could no longer be used in any
formal transaction, and was no longer allowed to be taught in schools. This Act was effective in Southern Wales, but
there are still pockets of native Welsh speakers. It was just after this time that the Adams
family moved from Wales to Braintree, Massachusetts and carried on the fight
for freedom from the English through their sons Samuel, John, and
John Quincy Adams (the latter two being the 3rd and 5th
presidents of the United States).
A second Act of Union in 1543
completed the unification of the rest of Wales, administratively, legally, and
politically, with England. Welsh representatives took their seats in
Parliament. Customary Welsh laws which differed from those of England were
abolished and the use of the Welsh language for official purposes prohibited.
The Welsh gentry continued to exercise local authority in the name of the
monarch, from whom they held their lands.
In an act of frustration Parliament
passed the Penal Code, which now prohibits the rebellious Welsh from
“…gathering together, gaining access to office, carrying arms and dwelling in
fortified towns, with the same restrictions being imposed upon Englishmen
married to Welsh women.” This lead to the Rebecca Rebellion, where Welshmen dressed as women
to avoid paying taxes on toll roads.
These men each said their names were Rebecca. Then later, they organized and attacked the
garrisoned tool booths.
Mae Ysbryd Ymladd Para – The Fighting Spirit Continues
The Welsh continue to rail against
the English crown. The actions of three prominent members of Plaid Cymru (The
Party of Wales) protested the English government's decision to erect a
"bombing school" at Penyberth on the
unspoiled (and very Welsh) Llyn Peninsular. In
September, 1936, the three sober, rational gentleman, all upstanding pillars of
their communities, started a small fire at one of the government's outbuildings
and reported their "dastardly deed" to the local police. The
governments' decision to prosecute Saunders Lewis, D.J.
Williams and Lewis Valentine, was termed "a black day" by W.J. Gruffydd, and helped re-ignite Welsh patriotism.
"The Penyberth Three" all confessed their
guilt; they had hoped for a trial in Wales before a Welsh jury, but at Caernarfon no verdict was reached. The proceedings were
then moved to the Old Bailey, London. Here, the three accused were refused
permission to testify in their own language and were
duly convicted and sentenced. As a result, one of the three, poet and dramatist
Saunders Lewis was dismissed from his position at Swansea University.
Following the Labour
Party's victory in 1997 the government published a White Paper, A Voice for Wales , which was a detailed description of the Party's
proposals for devolution. On 18
September 1997 a referendum on the proposals was held, with 559,419 votes in favor. The first Assembly Elections were held on 6
May 1999 and on the 26 May the National Assembly for Wales was officially
opened in Cardiff Bay.
Gwrthdystio gan Cenhedloedd Unedig -
Protection from the United Nations
The future of Wales and the Welsh
language is now looking considerably brighter.
There has been a resurgence of 