The world knows about St. Paddy’s Day – when the oddest of people claim to be two twenty-sixths Irish on their granddaddy’s side in order to a) claim some kind of interesting backstory and, more importantly, b) get drunk whilst wearing an idiotic hat and waving their shamrock about.
Ireland, of course, is wonderful – how can you dislike a country where the main post-pub food is bought from a place named Abrakebabra? Its Celtic nature is often wild, individual and friendly.
Those things all also apply just a short and bumpy ferry ride over the water in a country called Wales, which if you don’t know is the place that has the misfortune to have England clinging onto it for dear life. Wales is a hilly, lush country with Celtic peoples and its own language, a cousin of Irish (and Scottish) Gaelic and Breton. A land with much depth and history which kinda gets pushed aside in the March rush to dye beer green, a sure sign that a) you’re not really Irish and b) you are an idiot.
Anyway it so happens that 1st March is St. David’s Day – the patron saint of Wales. In celebration of this, here’s some facts about Cymru to enlighten this magnificent day, which by rights should be a national holiday. Or, to put it another way, an international one. (Hi boss.)
Wales has a population of 3 million people, half a million of whom speak Welsh.
Wales is not represented on the so-called British flag, which is a bit mean isn’t it?
The ‘Prince’ of Wales has nothing to do with Wales, is not Welsh and is weird and bald. His stupid three feathers crest is in German, for goodness sake. In fact, now we think about it, Weekender has never met anyone who voted for him.
The national emblem of Wales, the leek, was first introduced by St. David who advised Britons to wear one in their caps to distinguish them from the Saxons in a battle. The Britons won, possibly cause the Saxons were confused as to why they were suddenly fighting a salad.
St. David – a 6th Century bishop – famously said ‘Gwnewch y pethau bychain mewn bywyd’ – meaning ‘Do the little things in life.’
Daffodils are a second emblem, possibly because leek – in Welsh – is cenhinen, whilst daffodil is cenhinen pedr.
The Anglo-Saxon word for ‘foreign’ or ‘foreigner’ was Waelisc and a ‘foreign(er’s) land’ was called Wealas.
The modern Welsh name for themselves is Cymry, and Cymru is Welsh for Land of the Cymry. This is from the Brythonic word combrogi, meaning fellow-countrymen (of the Brythonic speaking people of Northern England and Scotland).
Wales has been inhabited by modern humans for at least 29,000 years. There is no truth in the rumour that prior to that the English lived there.
It took ages for the Romans to conquer Anglesey because they were well scared that the Druids would do, like, bad magic on them.
Wales has loads of sheep in it. We counted about 20 last time we went but assume that it is a lot higher. Possibly as much as 84.
The Welsh flag is well cool cause it has a massive red dragon on it. In Welsh, this is called Y Ddraig Goch.
Famous Welsh people include Tom Jones, Anthony Hopkins, Katherine Jenkins, Bryn Terfel, Manic Street Preachers, Super Furry Animals, Lostprophets, Stereophonics, Ryan Giggs, Les ‘The Truck’ Davies, Michael Sheen, Laura Ashley, Roald Dahl, Dick Francis, Dylan Thomas, Bucko, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Gareth Bale, Tommy Cooper, Paul Whitehouse, Richard Burton, David Lloyd George and Sir George Everest – who the mountain is named after.
Current champions of Wales are Bangor City FC, a team of intellectually-supreme and handsome fellows who choose to play in the League of Wales because they are motivated not by money or fame, but by the striving to be morally upstanding and creative as a collective and therefore improve humanity for the benefit of all.
When Super Furry Animals signed a record contract with Creation, they had it stipulated that 1 March, St David’s Day, must be a day off.
Which is where we came in. Pob hwyl i chdi a cadwch y ffydd.
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