wales

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Wales

by Noah Arthur

SECOND IMPOR-TANT THING ABOUT WALES
Wales has had many invasions. The Beaker people were the first Welsh people at all known. Then came the Celts, who had priest called Druids and were warriors. The Celts believed in spirits and human sacrifice. Then, the Romans invaded Wales but Wales was never very Romanized. The red dragon on their flag is a Roman symbol that they kept. After the Romans left, the dark ages began. There were invasions by Anglo-Saxon tribes at that time, and a bit later, the Normans and Vikings invaded. The Welsh call the Dark Ages the "Age of Saints". Later, a long political and warring struggle between England and Wales began. In the end, England won, and even today, Wales is under English rule. Coal mining began with the industrial revolution but disappointed many people who moved to mining towns. Methodism gave hope to these disappointed and exploited people, and spread widely. It also made the Welsh feel more Welsh and less English.

THIRD IMPORTANT THING ABOUT WALES
Wales has many Chris-tian denominations. Most Welsh are Christians. Some demoninations are Congregationalists, Anglican, Presbyterian, Catholic, and the Society of Friends (Quakers). After the Romans left, the Dark Ages, or Age of Saints came. During that time, missionaries called "sancti" came to Wales and converted many people to Christianity. Saint David is the Welsh patron saint. His name is Dewi in Welsh. The Welsh Anglican Church is slightly different than the English Anglican Church. The Welsh one is less hierarchial. Most of the 60,000 Welsh Catholics are in northeastern Wales. When Church of England was in power in Wales, groups called the Non-Conformists, split off. Many of these were very small groups like the Salvation Army. The largest was the Calvinist Methodists. Methodism came to Wales in the industrial revolution, giving new hope to coal miners. It gave the Welsh a new feeling that their country wasn't just all English.

by Noah Arthur

by Noah Arthur

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Modern Welsh Life.
Welsh families used to be so big that all their homes took up a good sized area. In the families were grandfathers, uncles, etc. Today, Welsh families are like most English ones. There's not that much, except their language and their history, that is very different from the English. There are more single and/or working mothers than before. Welsh houses usually have a garden of some kind, even just plants on a porch or in a window box. Some people can't buy a house so they rent a public or council home. Some can't even afford that. They become homeless. Welsh life expectancies and health are improving. Most Welsh health care is provided by the national health organization. Although Welsh healthcare is improving, some patients have to wait a year for non-urgent operations! School is free for kids ages 5 to 16 years old. There are both English and Welsh speaking schools. Some have both. Not many people in Wales have college degree. Wales has its own national curriculum.

The Welsh People.
The Welsh people are very warm hearted and welcoming. They are descendents of the ancient Celts, so they have some Celtic things about their culture. Wales is sometimes called the "Land of Song" because the Welsh are great singers. There are only 2.9 million people in Wales, approximately twice as many sheep as people. Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Abraham Lincoln, and James Coolidge, were United States presidents of Welsh descent. Welsh society doesn't have as definite a class system as English society. In Wales, a person's accent indicates just where a person is from, not where the person is on the social scale.

FIRST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT WALES
Wales has a unique culture.
Music - There are celebrations of poetry and music called "Eisteddyfods" (pronounced ACE-deth-vord-eye).? There have been many Welsh poets including Dylan Thomas and Alun Lewis. Mr. Lewis lost a foot trying to jump a train in Canada. Not all Welsh music is traditional. There are at least a couple of Welsh pop stars, like Shirly Bassey. The Welsh also like hymn singing. "Land of Our Fathers", a hymn is the Welsh national anthem. Some folk musician put into music poems from the Mabinogion. The triple harp and the harp are the most common folk instruments. Robin Huw Bowen is the most well known triple harpist.
Leisure - The best Welsh artists and architects went to England in the Acts of Union. Wales has the most castles per square mile of any country in Great Britain. There are some very recent (150-year old) castles called "folly" castles. The biggest and best castles in Wales were built by King Edward I. The Welsh are particularly good craftsmen, making just about anything you can think of beautiful, including spoon. The Welsh make lovespoons, which are signs of a man's love for a woman, or gifts on special occasions. Spinning, weaving, and sculpture making are commonly done in Wales. Many Welsh and visitor painters love to paint Welsh landscapes. The man called the Father of British landscape painting, Richard Wilson, painted mostly Welsh landscapes. There are many famous Welsh actors and actresses, including the contemporaries, Ioan Gruffydd and Anthony Hopkins. Ioan Gruffydd acted in the film "Titanic". Wales some of its own theater companies. Most of Welsh leisure has to do with sports or the beach. Rugby is the favorite sport of Wales. There are cricket and soccer. People enjoy going to the local pub and also go to body-building houses and gyms. There are many talented Welsh athletes. The Welsh also enjoy going out to do things in nature. There are many Welsh hikers and mountain climbers.

The Welsh Language.
Welsh is the healthiest Celtic language. Road signs and most other signs are bilingual. Books are very commonly sold in Wales because the Welsh love to read. In North Wales, 80% are Welsh speakers. South Wales has only 10%. Ever since the 1960's, there has been much successful trying to help keep the Welsh language going. There are several all Welsh newpapers and TV channels. Welsh is one of the hardest languages to learn. It has what is probably the longest word in the world. It is "Llanfairpwllgwyngylgogery- chwychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch". It is the name of a tiny village on the Isle of Anglesey. Llan means "church" in Welsh. Cymru (pronounced COME-ri) is the Welsh word for Wales. Poetry is a large part of the Welsh culture. There is a giant collection of Celtic folktails called "The Mabinogion".

The Land of Wales.
Wales is a small country in the United Kingdom. It has England to the east, Cardigan Bay to the west, Liverpool Bay to the north, and Bristol Channel to the south. Wales has Mount Snowdon, the highest peak in England and Wales. There is a national park named after Mount Snowdon, Snowdonia National Park. The main rivers are the Dyfi, Teifi, Dee, and Severn. Wales another beautiful national park, Brecon Beacons National Park. Cardiff is the capital of Wales. Aberystwyth and Swansea are two other main cities. The yellow daffodil is the Welsh national flower. Bala, the largest natural lake in Wales, has a unique salmonid fish, the gwiniad. Wales has more wildlife than England. Some Welsh creatures are martens (arboreal mink), gannets (large white/black/yellow sea bird), several kinds of starfish, seals, red kites (fork-tailed bird of prey), gulls, and other birds.

The Cities of Wales.
Cardiff-By-The-Sea - Cardiff is the capital of Wales and its largest city. In 2004, its population was 316,800. Cardiff is on the extreme south coast of Wales. At first, it was a tiny town, but with the start of heavy industry, it grew big as a coal port.
Aberystwyth - Aberystwyth is a university town in mid-Wales. It is also an historic market town, which is place with old fashioned markets. The Univeristy of Wales is in Aberystwyth. The world's first international politics department was at the university.
Swansea - Swansea is a center for heavy industry like mining, ship building, and oil refining. It is in South Wales near Cardiff. It doesn't have as much immigration as Cardiff. It's county stick out into the ocean. In World War II, the Nazis bombed Swansea over and over because it had ship building.

References - Books
Cultures of the World, Wales, Anna Hestler, 2001, p.128
Internet
Offa's Wall www.britainexpress.com/countryside/national-trails/
offas-dyke.htm
Swansea www.britainexpress.com/wales/swansea/swansea.htm
Dylan Thomas www.dylanthomas.com/

by Noah Arthur

by Noah Arthur

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Country of the Month

by Noah Arthur

charles wesley

dylan thomas

princess diana & prince charles

caernforn castle - where kings in waiting are crowned as the Prince of Wales

bartender with beer

wales vs. canada rugby

rainbow and trees

man and university of wales

sheep blocking road

famous cemetary

criccieth castle

winebar

woman on mountain

cardiff

bilingual sign

by Noah Arthur

1 - Anglesey and Snowdonia
2 - North Wales Coast and Borderlands
3 - Mid-Wales and Brecon Beacons
4 - Ceredigion
5 - Pembrokeshire
6 - Carmarthenshire
7 - Swansea, Gower, and the Vale of Neath
8 - Cardiff and South Wales
9- Wye Valley and Vale of Usk

Dylan Thomas.
"My birthday began with water - Birds and the birds of the winged trees flying my name. Above the farms and white horses. And I rose. In rainy autumn. And I walked abroad in a shower of all my days."

That's a Dylan Thomas poem called "Poem in October" I think it is a strange poem because it has no rhythm. I sounds like a dream. Dylan Thomas is the most famous Welsh poet.

Churches and Cathedrals.
There are many old Welsh churches. They very from tiny chapels to huge cathedrals, and Norman to Victorian. There is one that has a Celtic foundation. One cathedral has a huge bridge in it and figure of Jesus on the bridge. Some churches were partly built in one century and partly built in another. I like how many churches there are in Wales.

Swansea.
From 1700 on, Swansea grew steadily. Now it has 250,000 people. It's the second largest city in Wales. Its air was polluted by copper and coal work and agriculture is now no longer possible. Swansea has more "Cape Horners" (people who have sailed all the way to Chile to trade copper) than any other British city. Swansea is a mix of modern businesses and office towers and old castles and maritime stuff. Swansea was almost completely destroyed by bombs in WWII but has been rebuilt. There is a tropical plant greenhouse and a tropical plant park. It also has places where you can get both expensive and budget meals.

FOURTH IMPOR- TANT THING ABOUT WALES
Offa's Wall.
Offa's Dyke was built by Offa, the Anglo-Saxon King of Mercia in 760AD to keep the Welsh out of his kingdom. There is a national trail that runs along the dyke. The dyke, in some places, appears unfinished. The dyke and trail go by the towns of Hay-on-Wye, Knighton, Llangollen. There are several castles including Chirk Castle and also Tintern Abbey. The dyke and trail goes through the Dee and Wye Valleys, and through the Clwydian Hills, and on to its end in Prestatyn.

st mary's

yellow daffodill - welsh national flower

llanmihangel church

llanmaes church

llandaff church