12th January 2019 - Welsh Speaking in History

Thought for the day :"I was given a bottle of limited edition Tippex for Christmas. Apparently it is a corrector’s item."

On the road today - Chepstow Court of Athelstan last night and up to Southport for the Provincial Meeting of South Rheged  - first Provincial Meeting of the year in the Court of Athelstan, a chance to show off my nice new Grand Regalia... and on to a Birthday Party in the Wirral....

Meanwhile the subject of Welsh Speaking sometimes crops up...  I was staggered to find out that Oliver Cromwell was of Welsh origins and spoke Welsh - something I was unaware of before.. But the following interesting information came up about Queen Elizabeth the 1st ...

On occasion it has been suggested that Elizabeth 1st had a grasp of Welsh ... Generally the response has been been "I don't believe there is definitive evidence - perhaps a few words picked up from the Welsh men and women in her employ".

But after some digging, Nathan Amin the Auhtor writes about an intriguing report written by the Venetian ambassador Giovanni Carlo Scaramelli in April 1603, just two weeks after her death. As well as saying "With her dies the family of Tudor, originally of Welsh extraction", Scaramelli notes:

"She possessed nine languages so thoroughly that each appeared to be her native tongue; five of these were the languages of peoples governed by her, English, Welsh, Cornish, Scottish, for that part of her possessions where they are still savage, and Irish. All of them are so different, that it is impossible for those who speak the one to understand any of the others. Besides this, she spoke perfectly Latin, French, Spanish, and Italian extremely well."
So, maybe Elizabeth I did possess some proficiency in Welsh, after all? 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

So - see you when I get back home  - hopefully tomorrow

Cheers !