16th March 2018 - Little Known Welsh Facts

Thought for the day:"The future will soon be a thing of the past."

I had a need for something Welsh this morning so I decided to add this picture.....
The sun is shining as usual here in God's Own Country and the bronchial cough is departing slowly.

So the breaking news is....

It is quite feasible that you have to be Welsh to understand that - but I will not explain it...

Meanwhile - there are a number of Castles in wales - but not everyone knows exactly how many there really are... This little map shows some details. Of course - not all of them are habitable - in fact very few are!

Some other little known facts ... (Source Wales on Line)
The Irish were a menacing threat to Roman Britain and forts were built along what is now the Taff to guard against their attacks. Colonies of Irish existed in Wales long after the Romans. Names such as Llyn and Dinllaen are of Irish origin, as was the kingdom of Dyfed, where there are 20 stones inscribed with letters in ogham, from Ireland.

The Vikings repeatedly attacked Wales in the 10th century. From strongholds in the Isle of Man and Dublin they savaged communities along the coast. It's probably in this time that Scandinavian names, later adopted in English, were given to places like Swansea, Bardsey, Anglesey and Fishguard. There is evidence that the Northmen established small trading stations in Cardiff and there was an extensive stronghold in Anglesey, whose people were sold as slaves. In 987, 2,000 men of the island were captured and sold. The next year, places like Llantwit Major and St Dogmaels were among those plundered.

'Sais' is still used today in Welsh to describe someone English, sometimes in a derogatory context. However, it was first used in the 15th century to describe a Welshman who knew how to speak English. Welsh people had little reason to know the language in the middle ages, and the use of the word suggests the knowledge was rare and viewed with contempt.

Thomas Capper's life was ended at Cardiff in 1542 when he was burned alive. He was a Protestant and the first religious martyr in Wales since Roman times, a victim of Henry VIII's persecution of those who denied the practice of Catholic mass. In 1584, Rice Jones of Gelligaer appeared before magistrates at Cardiff for playing tennis at the time of divine service.

The "four centres of the Great Sessions" were Carmarthen, Caernarfon, Denbigh and Brecon - "the capitals, so to speak, of the four corners of Wales", says John Davies. Carmarthen was the biggest town in Wales in the 16th century, with around 2,000 people. The other three had around 1,000. Swansea, Tenby, Monmouth and Pembroke also had around 1,000 people and there were probably slightly more in Cardiff. By 1700, Wrexham was the largest town in Wales but Carmarthen had re-established its lead by 1770. By 1801, Swansea was the biggest town, with over 10,000 people living in what was Britain's main copper-producing area.

The first surviving words in Welsh are those inscribed around 700 on a stone in a church in Tywyn. But the first Welsh may have been written down as early as 600. Early Welsh was the medium of Taliesin and Aneirin, poets of the time. This is particularly impressive as Latin was the only written medium throughout Europe and there was virtually no written French, Spanish or Italian until after 1000. The adoption of the word 'Cymru' may have been around the same time, with the word 'Kymry' used in a poem from 633. At that time, the word referred to the Old North as well as to Wales.

As late as 1921, 56% of the population of the parish of Llanddeiniolen, near Caernarfon, had no knowledge of English and there was one parish on the Llyn peninsula (Bodferin) where everyone was monoglot Welsh. In the 1930s there were nearly 100,000 people in Wales who could speak only Welsh.

Hen Wlad fy Nhadau was composed in 1856 by Evan and James James of Pontypridd. But it was thanks to the National Eisteddfod in Chester in 1866 that it became the national anthem. It was sung with such passion it was immediately adopted as the anthem. A visitor to that Eisteddfod wrote: "When I see the enthusiasm which these Eisteddfods [sic] awaken in your whole people I am filled with admiration."

In Blackwood in 1842, there was one pub for every five people.
Following the Beer Act of 1830, there was a huge increase in the number of places people could go to drink. As well as that startling figure on the number of places to drink in Blackwood, there were also 200 taverns around the Dowlais Ironworks alone. And it didn't take long for temperance societies to be established as a response. The first among the Welsh was actually set up in Manchester - but by 1835 there were 25 in Wales itself. The first teetotal society in Wales was founded in Llanfechell, Anglesey in 1835. A poll in Mountain Ash claimed to have established that 90% of people backed closing pubs on Sundays.
So Cheers!!