Cofiwch Dryweryn
You have wonderful murals and stuff – we have graffiti. Here’s the background to the slogan – Now we are preserving it -Cool. 
Tags: Wales
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Books
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Douglas Murray – Bloody Sunday: Truth, Lies and the Saville Inquiry, Book Review
The aftermath of the Saville Inquiry into the events around Bloody Sunday has left me, and I suspect many others, with one enduring image: Prime Minister David Cameron’s apology in the House of Commons, where he says that the actions of the British Army were ‘unjustified and unjustifiable.’ But there’s a lot more to the [...] read our review » -
The Earl Bishop
Interesting BBC article on an upcoming presentation and talk [Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre, 17 August] by lecturer and broadcaster Stephen Price on the subject of his new book – The Earl Bishop. The 18th Century ”Earl Bishop” was Frederick Augustus Hervey, fourth Earl of Bristol and Church of Ireland Bishop of Derry. Hervey was also elected [...] read our review »
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Of the Old North and other Vanished Kingdoms..
I’m currently trawling through Norman Davies’s fabulous new tome – “Vanished Kingdoms” – Five stars in the (London) Telegraph’s review from Ben Wilson: All the nations that have ever lived have left their footsteps in the sand,” writes Norman Davies. “The traces fade with every tide, the echoes grow faint, the images are fractured, the human [...] read our review »
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Dewi,
I thought it was a poster for dry-roasted coffee :^)
Intersting Dewi, i must admit to never having heard this story or seen the particular Graffiti before. Do you think those two words actually helped spark Welsh fervour which led to devolution?
Graffiti can sometimes capture national emotion as above or just raise a smile…
http://pixdaus.com/pics/IxSw9VrTbQApPUNbju.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2387/2192907800_1bcb6630fa.jpg
That would be this lot Maggie
RS – nice ! – Capel Celyn Nice video on the drowning of the village.
TEN REASONS WHY I DESPISE THE WELSH
1) We Irish have centuries of history and bloody conflicts in every one of them. The Welsh fighting spirit petered out in 1292. You can’t turn Helynt Becca into Braveheart, however hard you try.
The Irish and Scottish Parliaments were alive until the 18th Century. The ‘parliament’ at Machynlleth lasted only a matter of weeks.
2) The Welsh have no clans, clan chiefs, clan history or even proper surnames. Instead they have a lot of boring patronymics which frequently only go back as far as 1800.
3) The Welsh language is a semantic calque of English. Every Welsh word corresponds exactly to an English one, the only exception I can think of is ‘example’, which translates as siampl and enghraifft. One Gaelic word often translates into twelve different English one.
4) The Welsh have no recent history except for Methodist revivals.
5) The Welsh have very few proper islands, none inhabited by Welsh speakers (Anglesey is disqualified because of the bridge.).
6) The Eisteddfod is a boring ripoff.
7) The Welsh allowed their folk music to disappear, and be replaced by Italianate 4 part harmonic choir singing, particularly of hymns.
9) The Welsh have brown eyes and are short of stature.
10) They allowed their whiskey industry to be bought out and closed down by the Jocks.
Jocks,
The leeks and Tom Jones: you forget the leeks and Tom Jones (but he’s stopped dying his hair so they’re hope yet) :^)
Apologies for the spelling in that last post!
Nice vid, Dewi.
1addy:
One week of Glyndwr’s parliament is worth centuries of yours…
1) Watch it or I’ll write 17 posts about Glyndwr…
2) Our village paper shop owner was Hughes the News!
3) Calque??? Stop trying to be clever – it doesn’t suit you.(Seriously is that a recognisable linguistic phenomenon? Do you have degrees of Calquness?)
4) 1904 was pretty damn cool.
5) Bardsey never been there meself
6)It is expensive agreed..
7) For that you have to listen to this again
9) Yep
10) Penderyn
TEN GOOD THINGS ABOUT WALES
1) It’s mainly mountain, which is better than bog.
Welsh Gypsey was the best exemplar of Romani in Europe. Doesn’t survive though.
2) The Welsh did not allow their language to be extirpated from the map with the same rigour it was in Ireland. Most place names are correctly spelt.
3) Some evidence of a continuing literary tradition since Roman times. Macsen Wledig.
4) Daniel Owen: a Welsh language equivalent of Dickens or Wilkie Collins. Worth reading. The Welsh novel got off the ground even in Victorian times, which was hardly the case in Scotland or Ireland.
5) Amusing mediaeval love/lust poems: Dafydd ap Gwilym a’i cyfoeswyr.
6) So far there is only one Welsh Nationalist Party of any standing. This shows an ability to work together for the common cause. Irish and Bretons specialise in splits.
7) Quite interesting folkloric tradition evidenced by Evans-Wentz. All defunct though.
9) 10) Um, pass.
“Welsh Gypsey was the best exemplar of Romani in Europe. Doesn’t survive though.”
What does “best” mean in this context Paddy?
OK 9) maybe: the latter Ll. We don’t have that in Irish, nor do we have Rh. Very useful for spraying saliva on your enemies, while pretending it was not intended.
LLANFAIRPWLLGWYNGYLLGOGERYCHWYRNDROBWLLLLANDYSILIOGOGOGOCH. Claiming to have this word tattooed on your penis can generate a fair deal of interest in the opposite sex plus invitations to visit a certain OGOGOCH.
DEWI’S POINTS
Calque: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calque
Bardsey is uninhabited. The farmhouses can be rented by tourists. Welsh speaking not required. Certainly not a Welsh Blasket, or even Craggy Island.
Anglo Romany is merely a vocabulary of about 70 words which are thrown into basically English sentences. The Welsh Romany recorded by Sampson contained Sanskritic cases which have been lost even in Hindi.
I actually like leeks but there’s nothing Welsh about them.
“Anglo Romany is merely a vocabulary of about 70 words which are thrown into basically English sentences. The Welsh Romany recorded by Sampson contained Sanskritic cases which have been lost even in Hindi.”
I knew about the Welsh imports “Melano” for yellow, and the famous Wood family of Welsh Romanies but the unique Sanskritic cases new to me.
http://www.valleystream.co.uk/romhome.htm
Paddy – how about most literate country in the world at end of 18th century?
Illiteracy I feel is a rare flower that needs to be carefully nurtured. The problem with near universal literacy in an age of few books is that you know in advance what they have read. Y Beibl Cysegr-lan. Taith Y Pererin. Cynifer Llith a Bân. Cannwyll y Cymry. Illiterates lived in the world of imagination, full of legend, pisherogues and banshees.
Re: Hughes the News.
Indeed, I heard of one man who complained, I taught school for ten years, but nobody calls me Evans scwl. I saved men from drowning, but nobody calls me Evans the hero. I sang in the choir for years, but nobody calls me Evans tenor. I won First Prize for my poetry in the Eisteddfod that for all North Wales was look you, but nobody calls me Evans Bard. But it only takes one little sheep…
Strange Paddy – i always thought that was one of your jokes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9yEcXWxz34
My version makes more sense. Moran is all right though.
Dewi,
I have very mixed feelings on this topic.
In the 60’s, I well remember the controversy surrounding creation of these lake/reservoirs and had Welsh office colleagues who frequently, and eloquently, shared their concerns with me.
Twenty-odd years later my late Welsh father-in-law taught me to catch trout on the fly at the drowned valley of Llyn Brenig near Denbigh and I could not help being struck by how much the facility added to the natural beauty of Wales.
Is there a generation gap among Welsh people, with an older set seeing the creation of these reservoirs for the benefit of English cities as a kind of “rape of Wales”, but with a later generation accepting them as enhancements to the Welsh landscape and leisure resources?
“Is there a generation gap among Welsh people, with an older set seeing the creation of these reservoirs for the benefit of English cities as a kind of “rape of Wales”, but with a later generation accepting them as enhancements to the Welsh landscape and leisure resources?”
I don’t think so – the real thing that irks is the lack of economic benefit. No-one knows if the Assembly actually owns our water resources.
Poor translation Like water is treated like a gift from God rather than an economic asset.