I am so often aware that when I hear people talking about England or the English they really mean Britain, and the people who hail from the United Kingdom. In fact England is only one country in a union of four former Kingdoms, each with their own proud traditions and languages. Over many centuries the language and culture of one of them, England, has become dominant but that does not mean that the languages and the historical pride of Ireland, Scotland and Wales have disappeard
I am Welsh, I was born in Wales and both my parents were Welsh, and in no way does that diminsh my British nationality, or my pride in Great Britain What I am definitely not is English and this is what I find difficult to explain, not just to people from other countries, but also to some English people. For me the different characteristics of the four nations are a source of richness and they add to, rather than take away from, the whole nation which today is called the United Kingdom.
Wales, Scotland and Ireland are Celtic counties, while England is Anglo Saxon, with strong Norman roots. In fact these Celts were the original Britons, so I would like to explain a little about Wales, to illustrate just how different it is from England.
The ancient country of Wales, or Cymru in Welsh, has been inhabited by modern humans for at least 29.000 years, though continuous human habitation dates from the period after the end of the last Ice age, around 9.000 BC. Celtic tribes from Europe came to the British Isles around 500-100 BC, and settled alongside the original Iron Age population. Their language, which sowed the seeds of the modern Welsh language, is the oldest in Britain, dating back possibly 4.000 years. Roman and Saxon invasions pushed the original Britons into the land area of Wales, where they became the Welsh people. Welsh is very similar to Breton, the Celtic language spoke in Brittany, in France, and also to Cornish, the language spoken in the most westerly part of England.
Galicia in north west Spain, together with Ireland, Scotland, Isle of Man, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany make up the Celtic nations who regularly gather together to celebrate their music, dance, poetry and films. I think it is this internationalism, with people from these countries frequently visiting, that gives Wales its welcoming feel -one of the most famous songs in Wales is "We'll keep a welcome in the hillsides".
Another factor in this internationalism is the solidarity between the workers in the Welsh coalmines with working people in other countries. For example, Nelson Mandela is a "freeman" of Cardiff and many of the International Brigadistas in the Spanish Civil War were Welsh.
Wales has always been a poor country with a large working class, a comparatively small middle class and mainly English absentee landowners. Since the closing of the coal mines in the 1980s and the running down of the steel works, unemployment has been amongst the highest in Britain. In the South Wales valleys there are now three generations where no one has ever had a permanent job and expectations for young people at school are extremely low. Yet a feeling of belonging, or fear of the unknown, keeps people from moving away.
On the whole there have not been very many Welsh people who emigrated in times of hardship to find jobs, in contrast to Scotland and Ireland, from where huge numbers left for America, Canada and Australia. The only large Welsh expatriate community is in Patagonia, in Argentina, where people still speak Welsh along with Spanish.
Today the Welsh language is flourishing and schools which teach all subjects through the medium of Welsh are in great demand - there is a parallel here with the teaching of Valenciano. But it was not always so and there was a time when Welsh speaking was actively discouraged - my great-aunt remembered being hit with a ruler if she spoke Welsh in school. Since the 1970s Welsh has been actively promoted and all official documents are produced bi-lingually, and all the street signs are in both languages. One of the most important events was the setting up of a Welsh language television chanel, so important for the self image of Wales. This has also been key in promoting the use of the language, both in the programmes theselves and because of the jobs the channel provides.
Wales, along with Scotland, now has its own parliament and has been able to make policies, mainly in the social field, which are significantly different to those in England. There is a move, mainly from the nationalist parties, for more autonomy in Wales and for independence for Scotland, but many are strongly opposed to these ideas. It will be interesting to see what effect the economic crisis will have. Will hard times lead to more independence? Or will closer co-operation of countries, including possible entry of Great Britain into the eurozone, be the most sensible future? Only time will tell.
by Nina Davis
