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| Contents: Traditional Welsh Costume; National Anthem; National Emblems; St. David’s Day; The Celtic Cross; Welsh Origins ~ Race/Language; Christmas/Yule Customs in Wales; The Celtic New Year; History c250,000 to Tudor | WELSH COSTUME
The Welsh costume developed during the 19th century as part of the conscious revival of Welsh culture. Traditional values were under threat at the time and the red cloak and black hat became regarded as national dress. It was based on clothing worn by Welsh countrywomen of the early 19th century and consisted of a striped flannel petticoat worn under a flannel open fronted bedgown, an apron, shawl and kerchief or cap. Hats generally worn by women were the same as the men of the period. | THE NATIONAL ANTHEM
The words of the Welsh National Anthem were written by Evan James of Pontypridd. The his son, James James, inspired by an old melody composed for the harp, set the words to music. The tune was sung in public for the first time in the vestry of Tabor chapel, in Maesteg, in 1856 and the first printed version of the words is dated 1858. In 1874, it was sung at the National Eisteddfod held at Bangor and from about that time it came to be considered as the song which, more than any other, expressed welsh national sentiment. It is now sung on a wide variety of public occasions throughout the country. The difficulties encountered in translating the Welsh accounts for a variety of renderings in English:
Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau (Welsh) Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi,
Gwlad beirdd a chantorion, enwogion o fri;
Ei gwrol ryfelwyr, gwladgarwyr tra mad,
Tros ryddid collasant eu gwaed.
Cytgan:
Gwlad, gwlad, pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad,
Tra môr yn fur
I'r bur hoffbau,
O bydded i'r heniaith barhau.
Hen Gymru fynyddig, paradwys y bardd,
Pob dyffryn, pob clogwyn, i'm golwg sydd hardd;
Trwy deimlad gwladgarol, mor swynol yw si
Ei nentydd, afonydd, i mi.
Cytgan
Os treisiodd y gelyn fy ngwlad dan ei droed,
Mae hen iaith y Gymry mor fyw ag erioed,
Ni luddiwyd yr awen gan erchyll law brad,
Na thelyn berseiniol fy ngwlad.
Cytgan | The Land of my Father's (English Translation)
The land of my fathers, the land of my choice,
The land in which poets and minstrels rejoice;
The land whose stern warriors were true to the core,
While bleeding for freedom of yore.
Chorus:
Wales! Wales! fav'rite land of Wales!
While sea her wall, may naught befall
To mar the old language of Wales. Old mountainous Cambria , the Eden of bards, Each hill and each valley, excite my regards;
To the ears of her patriots how charming still seems
The music that flows in her streams.
Chorus
My country tho' crushed by a hostile array,
The language of Cambria lives out to this day;
The muse has eluded the traitors' foul knives,
The harp of my country survives
Chorus |
| NATIONAL EMBLEMS
The Red Dragon 
The Red Dragon is the heraldic symbol of Wales and is incorporated into the Welsh national flag. According to tradition, it appeared on a crest of Arthur, whose father Uthr Pendragon, had seen a dragon in the sky predicting that he would be king.
The dragon as a symbol was probably introduced into Britain by the Romans. Medieval Welsh poets often compared their leaders to dragons in poems praising their bravery e.g. Gruggydd ab yr Ynad Coch said of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd Pen dragon, pen oedd arnaw (“A dragon’s head he had”). Between 1485 and 1603, the dragon formed part of the arms of the Tudor dynasty, but was replaced on the royal coat of arms with a unicorn by order of James I.
In 1807, the red dragon reappeared as the royal badge for Wales, on from then on it was often seen in the regalia of Welsh patriotic societies. At the suggestion of the Gorsedd of the Bards, it was officially recognised by the Queen in 1959 and is now widely used as the national flag.
The Leek and the Daffodil 
The Red Book of Hergest of the 13th century and the 16th century poet Taliesin both extol the virtues of the leek, which if eaten, encouraged good health and happiness. A national respect grew around this plant, which was worn by the Welsh in the Battle of Crecy, and by 1536, when Henry VIII gave a leek to his daughter on 1st March, was already associated with St. David’s Day. It is possible that the green and white family colours adopted by the Tudors were taken from their liking for the leek.
The daffodil has only recently assumed a position of national importance. An increasingly popular flower in the 19th century, especially among women, its status was elevated by the Welsh-born prime minister David Lloyd George, who wore it on St. David’s Day and used it in ceremonies in 1911 to mark the investiture of the Prince of Wales at Caernarfon. | ST. DAVID'S DAY
Over a thousand years ago, during the 5th and 6th centuries, Wales turned to Christianity and the first churches were built. There were numerous holy men and women of the Celtic Church travelling around the country spreading the Christian faith and, although not officially canonised by the Church in Rome, were later called “Saints”. They dedicated their life to this pursuit and faced hardship and danger.
St. David’s Day is celebrated in Wales on 1st March in honour of Dewi Sant or St. David, the patron saint of Wales. What little we know of him is based on an account of his life written by Rhigyfarch towards the end of the 11th century. According to this Latin manuscript, Dewi died in AD580. His mother was called Non and his father, Sant, was the son of Ceredig, King of Ceredigion. After being educated in Cardiganshire, he went on a pilgrimage through South Wales and the West of England, where it is said that he founded religious centres such as Glastonbury and Croyland. He even went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem where he was made archbishop. Many Irish saints were said to have been taught by Dewi and he was reputed to have performed many miracles.
He eventually settled at Glyn Rhosyn (St. David’s) an south west Wales, where he established a very strict ascetic religious community. Many miracles have been attributed to him, the most incredible of which was performed when he was preaching at the Synod of Llanddewibrefi - he caused the ground to rise underneath him so that he could be seen and heard by all. It must be considered that Rhigyfarch was the son of the Bishop of St. David’s, and that the Life was written as propaganda to establish Dewi’s superiority and defend the bishopric from being taken over by Canterbury and the Normans .
From the 12th century onwards, Dewi’s fame spread throughout South Wales and as far as Ireland and Brittany. St. David’s Cathedral became a popular centre of pilgrimage, particularly after 1120 when Dewi was officially recognised as a Catholic saint. From this period on, he was frequently referred to in the work of medieval Welsh poets such as Iolo Goch and Lewys Glyn Cothi. In 1398, it was ordained that his feast-day was to be kept by every church in the Province of Canterbury. Although the feast of Dewi as a religious festival came to an end with the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, the day of his birth became a national festival during the 18th century.
Now, March 1st is celebrated by schools throughout Wales. It is the custom on that day to wear either a leek or a daffodil and for young girls to wear the national costume.
|  THE CELTIC CROSS
The cross is an ancient symbol in use long before Christianity. Many of the oldest churchyard crosses were erected before the churches. Sometimes they were preaching crosses used by early Christian missionaries, frequently on or near sites of pagan shrines. Many ancient crosses were destroyed in 1641 and 1643 when Parliament ordered that all crosses be pulled down.
A large number of ancient crosses were originally prehistoric standing stones (menhirs) converted in the form of a chiselled emblem. Some early crosses with Celtic designs were commemorative, perhaps intended not merely as decoration but also to convey a message. Wayside crosses were erected for travellers and boundary crosses marked the limits of land owned by monasteries. In some parts of Wales plague crosses are to be found on the outskirts of villages where people from nearby towns and villages would leave food for survivors.
Is the Celtic Cross a Pagan Symbol? Many claim it is, especially Neo-Pagans, who now use it freely for their own purposes. Some Christians, especially fundamentalists, are terribly afraid that they might be right and want nothing to do with it if it is tainted by Pagan associations. But the vast majority who use the Celtic Cross are Christian and unconcerned that there is any controversy. All the historical examples of actual "Celtic Crosses" are from indisputably Christian contexts. The Aberlemno Stone in Angus, the great High Crosses at Clonmacnoise, Monasterboise, Kells, Iona and many other medieval monastic sites are all clearly made in Christian times, under Christian patronage and according to conventional Christian iconography.
So where does this claim of paganism come from? Henry O'Neill, in his 1857 book "Illustrations of the Most Interesting of the Sculptured Crosses of Ancient Ireland" writes, "I think that ancient Irish art was pagan, and was continued during the Christian period, just as the peculiar form of the Irish cross is pagan, or as the names of the months, or of the days of the week are pagan; these, and a great deal more of paganism, having continued, owing to the tenacity with which a people retain their general habits and ideas."
The Celtic Church refers to the Church as it was in Ireland and Great Britain in the early medieval times, when it was considered isolated from Rome and developed a distinctly Celtic spirituality. People are not of one mind about this, as they rarely are about religious matters, but one thing that came out of this was the belief that the pagan Druidic religion of the Celts had clairvoyantly anticipated the Gospels. Legends were retold and refashioned in the light of emerging ideas and theories from archeology and anthropology. The similarity of the Celtic Cross to ancient symbols such as various Sun symbols and the swastika rather firmly established the notion that these pre-Christian signs were prototypes of the Christian Celtic Cross. The mystics of the movement added this archeological interpretation to their conviction that God had blessed the Druids with prophetic knowledge of the coming of Christ.
Some observers see any quartering of a circle as a Celtic Cross. The chambers of the Neolithic tomb at Newgrange or the arrangement of standing stones. Examples like these, though they be easily dismissed as coincidence, are "proof" to some that the Celtic Cross is of greater antiquity than Christianity and obviously originally pagan. | | WELSH ORIGINS 
Primitive Welsh people
When the Romans attacked they wrote of three great tribes - the Silures of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, Dimetae of the south-west and Ordovices of the north-east.
The primitive population of Wales appears to be of three races :-
First raceThe first to settle in Wales were dark bronzed and of Iberian or Mediterranean stock They were short in stature and long-skulled Originating from the south they had a knowledge of agriculture and possessed cattle They used weapons of polished stone Were the builders of cromlechs (stone chambers) where they buried their dead They formed the bulk of the peasant population.
Second race Were of fair complexion and were tall, large-limbed, round-skulled and red-haired They developed the use of bronze and Celtic speech Buried their dead in round barrows
Third race Resembled their Irish brethren in complexion and build Spoke a different variety of Celtic language to that of the Irish Celts
|  LANGUAGES OF BRITAIN
The earliest language known to be spoken in the British Isles was Celtic which evolved along somewhat different linguistic paths to the Celtic spoken on the continent in Gaul, the Pyranees and the Alps, into Insular Celtic. Continental Celtic began to die out from the time of the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar, whereas, the Insular Celtic of the British Isles continued to thrive unmolested for a further century before the infirm emperor Claudius finally brought south-east Britain under the aegis of Rome. Unlike its continental counterpart, Insular Celtic continued to be used in the highlands and islands of Britain despite the presence of the Italic-speaking occupation army.
The English language has evolved over many hundreds of years from three main linguistic sources ~ primarily Germanic but with deep roots in the Celtic and Italic languages.
Insular Celtic has itself developed into several distinct tongues ~ Welsh, Irish, Scottish, Gaelic and the now extinct languages, Manx and Cornish.
| | CHRISTMAS/YULE CUSTOMS IN WALES
The Christmas season (Yule) has been celebrated in Europe since pre-Christian times and has retained its immense popularity up until the present day. In Wales the term “y gwyliau” (holidays) refers to a succession of festivals occurring over a twelve-day Christmas period, when, be it for religious or secular reasons, most of us rejoice and make merry, to commemorate the end of one year and look forward to the next.
 
The importance of Christmastide in Wales through the ages has given rise to many customs. Although most of these died out with the emergence of industrialisation toward the end of the 19th century, some, such as bringing in the Yule log and the plygain carol service, still remain in certain areas. This service was traditionally held between 3am and 6am on Christmas morning, when, following an evening of such pleasant diversions as singing, dancing and toffee-making, villagers made their way by torch-light to the parish church. Carols were sung, unaccompanied and parties took turns in performing.
 
After the plygain the rest of Christmas day was devoted to mirth and merriment. Food and drink featured prominently, as did sports and games during the afternoon. Other common festive activities included enactments of the Mari Lwyd horse ritual by men and boys and wassailing and hunting the wren ceremonies wishing good luck and prosperity. On New Year’s Day, children would go around the houses collecting calennig or New Year’s Gift.
"We celebrate Yule in our house from the 21st December and continue right through to the 1st January. We decorate with scented pine cones, cinnamon sticks, holly, ivy, mistletoe and lots of tiny white fairy lights. On the 21st we burn white candles but for the rest of the time they are scented with cinnamon, frankincense and orange. There are lots of treats around the place (chocolates, nuts and fruit) and plenty of Yuletide spirit!!! I love mead and mulled wine. The kids get a present each day from the 21st to the 24th and the rest on the 25th December.
Christmas Day was originally a Pagan celebration Back in the 4th century when the birth of the sun god Mithras was observed on the 25th December. Feasts were held celebrating the old pagan rites of Saturnalia. Lucky for the Christians, that day was declared a special day of Nativity and they were allowed to honour it with a Mass, or else they would have missed out on all the fun! Christ couldn’t have been born until the Spring if the lambs were to be in the fields and shepherds tending their flocks.
My kids will celebrate anything if it means getting presents but they do know that the ones on the 25th are delivered by a big fat happy bloke with white hair wearing mammy’s favourite colour. The reindeer are powered by magic donated kindly by the faeries and the sleigh is a bottomless pit of goodies."
| THE CELTIC NEW YEAR
Nos Galan is actually Welsh for New Year's Eve
Calan Gaeaf = the first day of winter
Calan Mai = the first day of summer (May) The Welsh name for Celtic New Year ( October 31st) is Nos Galan Gaeaf meaning 'the first day of winter's eve' and the following day, Calan Gaeaf (Nov. 1) means 'the first day of winter'. In our Celtic
world the year started with winter, the beginning of gestation before the living was born again in the spring. In other words, it's the night to 'make babies' if you want to keep in sync with the natural
world. The Welsh name perfectly illustrates this organic worldview. Traditionally, bonfires are lit.
 | WELSH HISTORY
(There is obviously much more that I could write in this section but, for now, this is a brief outline.... I hope to add more at a later date)
Early prehistory: c250,000 - 2,000BC
Later prehistory: c2,000BC - AD43
The Romans: cAD43 - AD400
Dark Ages: 5th - 11th centuries
Medieval: 11th - 16th centuries
| Neanderthal: It is known that people lived in Wales almost 250,000 years ago and remains of Neanderthals have been found in Pontnewydd Cave. Unfortunately, only the more durable materials have survived from these times, for example, stone, bone, pottery and wood. The collection recovered from Pontnewydd Cave consists of rough stone tools, human and animal bones. | | Palaeolithic period (Old Stone Age): Evidence of human occupation has been found in south-east Wales from the Palaeolithic period - 38,000 years ago during the warm phase of the Ice Age. Most of these finds have been made on the Gower peninsula, which was a limestone area with ready made natural caves for shelter. The landscape was treeless with shrubby vegetation and the inhabitants hunted wild horse, reindeer, mammoth and woolly rhino. | | Around 20,000BC Britain glaciated once again and the Gower peninsula was not inhabited again until about 10,000BC when the climate warmed as the glaciers retreated and forests took their place. A hunter-gatherer lifestyle took over and this lifestyle continued until about 4,500BC when farming was introduced from the continent. | | Neolithic period (New Stone Age): The climate of the 3rd and 4th millennium BC was much warmer and wetter than today. The landscape consisted of deciduous forest and dense woodland. The farming peoples of 2,500BC who cultivated wheat and barley were nomads moving according to the seasons. They kept sheep, cattle, pigs and used local elm for fodder and fuel. Instead of hunting reindeer and mammoth, they hunted deer and wild pigs, fished and collected plants for food. With new farming methods came new tools, the introduction of pottery and the development of trade routes which linked communities throughout Britain. Communal Megalithic tombs with burial chambers built of massive stones have revealed important finds from this period. | Bronze Age: The Bronze Age dates from the 2nd millennium BC when the climate was warm with dry summers and there was ample grazing land. The economy was predominantly pastoral with sheep, cattle, wheat, barley and corn, and as the population grew, the native woodlands were cleared for cultivation and settlements. Evidence has been found that copper and gold was mined from about 2,000BC and Wales had the richest deposits of gold in Britain. Major changes in burial customs took place during this period - from the communal tombs of the Neolithic period to individual burial mounds of earth or stone. Most of these barrows and cairns date from the first half 2000BC. Cairns usually have a stone-lined cist containing a cremation burial urn of pottery and a few personal possessions such as a bronze dagger. Ring cairns, with a circular bank sometimes consisting of upright stones, when amongst a group of cairns, could have acted as a ritual focus. The best example of this can be found on Gelligaer Common. The climate became colder and wetter after 1400BC (middle and late Bronze Age) and changes to settlement and burial practice came due to the many social and cultural changes. Cairns and barrows were no longer used for burial. From 1,200BC settlements were much larger, sometimes in defended hilltop areas (hillforts) and their communities or tribes farmed territories. These hillforts, with impressive ramparts were built for protection, with the inhabitants living in densely occupied buildings, although some people chose to live in roundhouses on small enclosed farmsteads. | Iron Age: Iron tools, weapons and ornaments appeared around the first half of the 1st millennium BC and the most impressive collection of was recovered in 1911 when Llyn Fawr lake, south of Hirwaun, was drained. The collection, dating from 600BC includes ornaments, tools and an iron sword from the continent and is now held at the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff. Evidence shows that a distinctive Celtic art style was adopted from 400BC. Overgrazing and woodland clearance during the Bronze Age led to peat coverage in the uplands which were abandoned. Iron Age settlements are found mainly in the lowlands or on the edge of the uplands and the distribution of hillforts suggests that the valleys were significant resettlement areas. Houses found within these hillforts were round structures supported by a ring of posts. The largest undefended Iron Age settlement in south-east Wales is at Treherbert (Blaenrhondda Ancient Village) and consisted of drystone walls and thatched roofs. However, one of the best preserved large hillforts in Wales is at Merthyr Tydfil (Buarth Mael Ancient Village) and dates between 700BC and AD100. | The Romans: By the time the Romans arrived in South Wales in the late 1st century AD, the population was organised into hostile Welsh tribes collectively known to the Romans as the Silures, a formidable opposition and military strength which took the Romans from AD49 to AD77 to defeat. Silures occupied Glamorgan, Gwent and most of the old county of Breconshire and were not overpowered easily by the Romans whose conquest took almost 30 years (the Roman author Tacitus descibed the Silures as “swarthy, with hair mostly in tight curls”). During the Roman occupation the upland areas remained thinly populated with small and impoverished native farmsteads. Wales was rich in gold deposits and the Romans exploited these reserves, some for the production of jewellery. Silver was mined extensively in North Wales while copper, iron, slate, stones and coal was mined throughout the whole of Wales to meet the demands of the times.
Roman gods and goddesses were worshipped alongside Celtic beliefs associated with the powers of nature. Plaques and bronze idols featuring the dog have been recovered and it appears that the role of the dog in both the Classical and Celtic world was concerned with healing.
The Romans left their mark on the area through marching camps, auxiliary forts, roads and civilian settlements. The Legionary base was founded at Caerleon in AD75 and was home to the 2nd Augustan Legion for about 200 years. The main Roman road ran along the coastal plain from Gloucester to Carmarthen. The North to South roads ran from the fort at Brecon to Neath and Brecon to Cardiff via Penydarren, Gelligaer and Caerphily where auxiliary forts were built between AD75 and AD90, to be a day’s march apart. Forts constructed in the 1st century were of earth and timber but from AD100 they were built or rebuilt in stone. The most is known about Gelligaer Fort which has been extensively excavated and whose second, stone phase, built between AD103 and AD112, is thought of as a classic fort of the period. It was the earliest in the area to be built in stone and was followed by the rebuilding of Caerleon Fortress. There was a dramatic contrast between the poor native settlements and these constructions of high standard featuring baths, drains, running water and heating.
Towards the end Roman rule some forts were adapted for defence and a good example of such a fort is Cardiff which lies beneath Cardiff Castle. Civilian settlements grew up around forts and the native Welsh adopted Roman building methods with the richer locals inhabiting Roman style villas. The 2nd Augustan Legion left at the end of the 3rd century and the Roman period finally came to an end around the end of the 4th century. Only civilian settlements remained occupied and the citizens of Caerwent were the last to leave in the 5th century. | Dark Ages: This period, between the withdrawal of the Roman legions at the end of the 4th century and the Norman invasion in 1066 is a shadowy era. It was a time for reassertion of Celtic culture and the small independent Welsh kingdoms were ruled by powerful Princes. Regional kingdoms emerged - the first was Gwent which came into existence in about the year 500, next came Morgannwg which split into two at the end of the 9th century. Kingdoms were tribal and hierarchical with ruling dynasties and the administration was based on tref, commote and cantref (parish, district and county). At the beginning of the 5th century Wales was mainly pagan but Christianity was introduced and by the 6th century monasteries had been established in Wales. Celtic saints such as Illtyd, Cadog and Dyfig set up monastic settlements during the 6th and 7th centuries and began the conversion to Christianity. These settlements, known as clasau, were usually sited at the bottom of a valley and consisted of an enclosure (llan) with a few huts for the monks, a timber church and a cemetery. Most of these clasau have been overlain by medieval churches and churchyards.
Carved stones and Celtic crosses are the most significant category of early medieval monument and have been found in two main areas - Margam and the Vale of Glamorgan (many have been removed to a church or museum for safe keeping). They marked burial sites, holy places or were purely commemorative stones, the earliest dating from the 6th century. South Wales resisted ferociously when raided by the Vikings in the 10th century and then again in the 11th century, when the Normans invaded. | Medieval period: From the late 11th century the Normans and English fought for two centuries to bring Wales under their control. Timber and earthwork castles were built in the uplands by the Welsh Princes in an attempt to fend off attack from the invaders. These were later replaced with masonry castles and remained in Welsh hands until the end of the 13th century. The conquest of south-east Wales by the Normans took place between 1066 and with the accession of Henry VII in 1485. The Norman barons were warlike, ambitious, greedy for land but also pious. They built castles, established villages and boroughs, organised the church into dioceses and parishes and founded monasteries giving extensive tracts of land along with them as an act of piety. The monasteries were the spiritual arm of the Normans and developed alongside castles and the most beautiful monastic remains are almost all of the Cistercian order. Unfortunately, some monasteries were uncomfortably close to the disaffected Welsh who raided them frequently. The Cistercians were the most successful monastic order in Wales and became major agriculturalists and ran shipping and mines. Cistercian granges were enclosures containing farm buildings and a chapel and there were 54 in Glamorgan - 28 belonged to Margam Abbey and 17 to Neath Abbey. The 13th century was a golden age for castle building in South Wales with the arrival of the great marcher lords - the de Clares, the Marshals, the de Braoses and Hubert de Burgh. The Welsh uplands were still under Welsh control but the de Clares built a string of castles on the fringes such as Castell Coch, Caerphilly Castle and Morlais Castle. The last castle to be built was Caerphilly Castle which was one of the greatest strongholds in Europe. The power struggle between Llywelyn ap Grufudd and Gilbert de Clare, the “Red Earl”, earl of Gloucester, lord of Glamorgan, was settled when de Clare built his castle at Caerphilly and was victorious.
The only monument of the Medieval period which owes nothing to the Normans is the platform house which is found in upland areas. They were a primitive form of habitation found in groups dating from the 13th century, when the increasing population settled on the upland plateaus. These settlements were abandoned during the 14th century due to plague and climate deterioration. The largest concentration of platform houses can be found high up on moorland on Gelligaer Common.
The 14th century the monasteries witnessed a downturn in fortune through plague and repeated Welsh raids but it was a time for improvement and embellishment of the existing castles when new families took over - the Beauchamps, Despensers and Staffords.
Deprivation in Wales in the 15th century led to a national rebellion led by Owain Glyndwr who was eventually defeated in 1405 near Grosmont Castle. The century saw abandonment of many castles in favour of the more comfortable semi-fortified manor houses and Caerphilly Castle was used as a prison. Monasteries were dissolved in the 1530’s. | | Tudor period (16th century) and beyond: Most castles continued to decay in Tudor times and, during the civil war in the mid 17th century, many were damaged beyond repair. Even after a long period of decline, Cromwell, in the 1600’s, thought Caerphilly Castle to be a formidable stronghold and had the moat drained and the towers blown up ~ the explosives failed to bring down the Leaning Tower but gave it the peculiar shape we see today. Farming developed during this period and many ancient farmhouses were enlarged. It is known that the Cistercian monks of Margam Abbey owned land at Gelligaer, Rhymney and Fochriw, where they built granges and farmed the land. Capel Gwladys, which was built on Gelligaer Common in AD450 was used as a monastic cell by these monks. |
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