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Self-Sufficiency in Style

wales - a short history of the language question

Wales is not England

and the Welsh are not English

Welsh is not a dialect of English

England, being bigger and more populous, has dominated. 

English, as an expressive and vigorous language, has done the same.

The survival of a distinctive Wales is one of the marvels of history and also incidentally  proves that the English are not as overbearing as they are sometimes painted.

The English came, as Anglo Saxons, from the Continent of Europe.

Illegal Immigrants

The Romans came, conquered and united, long before the English existed. They even left a few words behind.

It is beyond doubt that the Welsh nation arose, in the centuries that followed,  from an amalgamation of those tribes resident in the area we now call Wales.

It was always a disunited country, but they spoke a common language and were recognisably a nation.

These "Ancient Britons" were there when the Romans abandoned the place 1500 years ago, but by 1000 years ago they seem to have evaporated.

In my childhood, it was believed that the incoming Anglo-Saxons either slaughtered them or bred them into extinction and pushed the remnants into Wales.

In more enlightened days, we came to believe that generally peaceful coexistence absorbed this group into the nations that became the English in England and Scots in Scotland.

Indeed, it was not beyond the bounds of possibility that the modern English were mostly descended from the original inhabitants. The Anglo-Saxons becoming merely an incoming conquering elite.

Not this, 

but this?

..and back to this again.

Without entering the fantasies of racism, it was clear that most of the English and the Welsh have never regarded themselves as very closely related. They seem to have always seen themselves as very different from one another.

...and indeed, we now have the unexpected science of DNA.

Within the last few months it seems clear that the English are mainly descended from the Anglo Saxon invaders and that it is likely that most of the original inhabitants were killed or expelled. Our childhood histories were fairly reliable.

A question, that we never expected to be able to answer, is now being illuminated.

The Welsh and English are different. Something that nobody who has  lived in both Wales and England has ever doubted.

There is a separatist sentiment in Wales, but this is very different than the common run of such movements.

The survival of the Welsh language is a miracle: a miracle of the stubbornness and individuality of the Welsh.

English was posh, Welsh was not, but it survived as the language of the common people in rural areas to be come readopted as a language of literature and legend.

Most Welshmen and women do not speak much Welsh, indeed like the Irish they do a splendid job of turning English into a triumph, but substantial numbers in rural Wales do still speak the original language

...and, make no mistake, they intend to defend it.

if you think Welsh is just a variant of English.

It is actually the Welsh for the little town of Llandovery.

Even though they may have been born a few short miles over the border in England, they will never really be able to pronounce the names of the towns and villages, the farms, mountains and rivers with any accuracy.

But even the monoglot "English only" Welshman or woman can handle the pronunciation of Welsh from childhood.

Welsh is no dialect of English.

Yes, it really does. Most English people are aware of very strong Welsh antipathy to second homes in North Wales, sometimes leading to arson.

What is not so obvious is that there is a  less violent form of discrimination in other areas and that it extends beyond the English, as a nationality, and to all native English speakers.

So the Welsh are not racists, but incomers are not welcome in all areas. The writer has heard South African, Irish and English speaking Welsh residents bitterly complain of some of their neighbours' hostility. Even "English only" Welsh tread with a cautious step when living in Welsh-speaking Wales.

It is essential that the potential incomer understands, where and why problems occur.

The purchase of Welsh cottages by the English for holiday use has caused trouble in North Wales for decades.

Yy Gwyn Hotel
on the road from London to Dublin at
Betws-y-Coed.

A well known tourist centre in Snowdonia, but few English speakers pronounce it correctly, even though many will know where it is.

Some will go to the opposite extreme and patronise.

The English frequently complain that as soon as they enter a pub the Welsh instantly switch to Welsh if they can. The story is a part of English folk-lore.

It also is not true - at least the writer has been in many a Welsh speaking pub and never found it to be true.

Unlike their sister languages of Irish and Scots Gaelic, they have managed to keep it living and breathing over wide areas of their country, despite their proximity to the great English cities of Liverpool and Bristol. 

Even from London, you can drive to Welsh speaking Wales in a couple of hours.

They fear its extinction like Cornish and Manx but, in their efforts to protect what is rightfully theirs, go too far.

They diminish the natural friendliness and charm of their country by their hostility to people who have done them the compliment of wanting to live amongst them.

They attract the worst of their people to their standard and cause great harm to Wales.

A world away - just a couple of hours from London.

Arriving, only to leave again.

Any vendor in Wales, Welsh, English or Mesopotamian, is hardly likely to tell a prospective buyer that some of his neighbours are language bigots that will use language as an excuse to make their life a misery.

They want the best price for their small-holding or farm and will gloss over any problems.

The estate agent, similarly, has a job to do and is under no obligation to elucidate the problem.

Most decent Welsh people, including Welsh speakers, are highly embarrassed and will say little publicly.

So, nobody apart from the writer is likely to do the job of warning you to be careful. 

In fact, publicising the wishes of the extremists in warning you off, sticks in the gullet, but every writer's first loyalty is to the readers.

The English speaking couple with four young children, and who are prepared to send them to the local Welsh speaking school, will have a warm welcome and probably never face any problems.

But, as some parents will tell, should they decide to opt for an English language education for the kids, the wrath of the community will fall upon them.

In the same way, an "English only" employer will be welcomed as they will provide much needed jobs to help stem rural depopulation by Welsh speakers. Their kids will keep Welsh rural schools from closure.

The Welsh language activists are very logical in the application of their agenda, and in many ways their motives can be understood.

It is just so sad that they should use their energies to ruin the hopes of decent people who came to live amongst them.

The Brecon Beacons -
close enough to England and South Wales to have an English name in popular use.

Wales is a charming country with entertaining and engaging people.

Think about the problems and take them seriously, whilst thinking about living in the very real and vital community that is rural Wales.

"talking Welsh"

whilst staying at home at

 the very English Hangman's Cottage, just to the south of Misery Corner.