I feel I need to start this article with a brief explanation: Welsh is one of the languages spoken in the British Isles.
It seems incredible to me that I need to explain this, but in my experience a lot of people I’ve personally encountered don’t seem to be aware of its existence.
The Welsh language is not Gaelic. It’s distantly related to the language of Ireland, but they went their separate ways many centuries ago.
It’s more accurately referred to as Brythonic. In fact, if you go back far enough on maps or books, you’ll find it referred to as “The British language”.
And there begins our journey of discovery.
An Awakening
I heard recently of a musician who had been dead set against learning Welsh who, when he finally picked it up, has done so enthusiastically: as a musician he appreciates the beautiful lyrical quality of the language, how it naturally lends itself to song, poetry and music.
His experience mirrors my own: I hated learning Welsh when I was young. But now, for me, it has unlocked my own history, one which I was completely unaware of; it’s made my experience of living here that much richer and significant.
I think I can only appreciate this as an adult; now I’m older I am more aware of and appreciate more the efforts of my parents, and by extension, my extended family, in shaping who I am.
A Hidden Heritage
Wales has shaped the identity of many people in the British Isles, but many don’t even realise it.
For example, the Welsh are often mocked for having few surnames. In one place there are a whole village of people with the surname “Morris”. “Jones” and “Davies” are very common too.
What people fail to realise is that many other “English” surnames have a Welsh heritage too.
“Powell” and “Bevan” include a leftover from the Welsh prefix “ap”, which means “son of”. What was once “ap Howell” is now “Powell”. “ap Evan” simlarly became “Bevan”.
Here’s another example, and it’s probably an even more interesting one: the origins of place names. Wherever you see “tre”, “pont” or “caer”, you’re looking at a Welsh place name.
There are a number of rivers in Britain called “Avon”, the Welsh word for “river”.
This is because Welsh isn’t … Welsh. The whole of the British mainland once spoke Welsh, before the invasion of first the Romans, then the Anglo Saxon tribes … which is where we now get the name “England”.
Interestingly the Welsh refer to England as “Lloeger”, the “lost lands”.
For these reasons, I strongly suspect there are many more people in England who will be able to trace at least part of their heritage to a Welsh speaking person as well as Angles, Saxons, Romans and Normans.
I find it unfortunate that the heritage of these other peoples prevail in our culture, whereas Welsh culture is sidelined and sometimes ridiculed.
Ridiculed then valued
The territory of Wales has been reduced even more in recent decades, with more English speaking people moving in who don’t see the need to learn the language. “They all speak English anyway” is a common reason for monolingualism.
But so do Native American peoples, Maori and indigenous Australians. I feel it’s a shame to miss out on this opportunity to get to know the people and land around you. Also, there are clearly researched academic and life skills benefits to raising children in bilingual households.
There’s a lot of water under the bridge between English speaking and Welsh speaking people, and I’m loath to speak about it in any detail. Suffice to say the wounds are still there, scarred over and sometimes mentioned in passing … and only among Welsh speakers and in academic circles.
But given that history I find myself wanting to defend the language.
“Welsh is a foreign language” is one I heard recently. I find this perhaps more uncomfortable than most, since the meaning of the word “Welsh” is “foreigner”. Essentially, Welsh speakers are foreigners even in their own homes!
But the times are changing: I recently spoke to a mother from an almost entirely English speaking part of Wales who wanted to learn Welsh. Why? “My grandkids speak Welsh to each other, and I want to be able to speak to them in the language of their hearts.”
I find this fascinating; the demographic of Welsh speakers is changing: in the older generation its more common to find speakers, then there’s a dip where Welsh as a language was actively oppressed, and now it’s being encouraged again so an increasing number of young people speak it.
I wonder what this will do to the language?
At any rate, in a world where there’s a lot of movement of families and individuals, I’m sure it will continue to change.
And I’m ok with that, as long as it doesn’t disappear.
Welsh music
If you enjoyed reading about this cultural sidequest of mine, maybe you’d be interested to hear about Welsh music. As I mentioned earlier, the language expressed in song is often mesmerisingly beautiful.
Look up “Mari Matthias”, “Bwncath” and “Adwaith” on any music streaming service to see what I mean.