Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

24 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

-. .

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

Neu Wreichien Oddiar yr Eingien By CADRAWD. Gymru, Cymro, a Ghymraeg. The first historical notice we find of Britain by nanw* 3s in Aristotle four centuries before Christ. Albion, and Ierne (Jtrfema or Ireland) called the Britannic Albion, is a Celtic word, the same as alp, meaning hilly country. It is supposed that the Phoenicians took tin from these islands before Carthage was found. Wales was once a kingdom, but now a principality. Ancient Wales e-xteoded to the Severn river and the Dee, but Offa., the great Kins of Mercia, drove the Welsh out of the plain countries, beyond those rivets to the mountains where he caused them to be shut up, by making a dyke—which is still known as Clawdd OfEa," or Offa's I>yke. This boundary extended from Chepstow to Chester. The earliest division of Wales, was into two districts, North and Soutb-gwynedd a debeubarth and the dialecfc-of North Wales was tailed y wendodeg," and that of South Wales y deheubarfcheg." The appellation of Syllwg, or Siluria, for the Southern division is of subsequent introduction. A certain writer says that the geography of Wales is prophetic of its history. Cadwallon's dream of a greater Wales,—Edward the First's dream of a Wales made part of a Nor- man kingdom, and the Tudor's dream of Wales as a part of a purely English kingdom, has come to nought." The mountains ever assert their presence, the boundary of Wales must always be at their feet, the people who live, and are brought up among them must have characteristics of their own. It is not too much to say that the character of a people is formed by their environments, by plain, mountain, or sea. The reason Wales has a separate character is, because Its mountains rise between the sea and the plain. Our dear old mountains explain not only why Wales has a history of its own, but what that history is. Mountainous Wales has always been a land of hope, and its people, from their birth, have always had the unconscious idea that it is possible to rise from height to height, and that all difficulties can be overcome. A mountainous country washed by the sea has always been severe enough to foster independ- ence without brutality, and the loss of self respect, or character and from such a land may be expected leaders of men to higher things. Not many years ago we were described by the late Lord Salisbury as a fragment of a Celtic fringe pity he is not alive to-day to see what a beautiful piece of embroidery the late Prime Minister has manufactured out of the Celtic fringe, and how the nations respected his memory. Yn earu llwch Syr Bannerman, Mae'r gydgan genhedlaethol. He who is ashamed of pure Celtic blood most despise the blood of Royalty, and he who is ashamed of his Celtic ancestors must be ignorant of their renown. The Cymry are the venerable ruin of a once grand national structure, the noblest remnant of the noblest race on earth. Older than the Romans, the Cymry are -still living, and colonising the world. Milton spoke of us as an old and haughty nation high in arms." We have not lost our valour. Spencer placed the ancestry of his Fairie Queen in the dim regions of British story. Regions Csesar never knew, Thy posterity shall sway." Boadicea's Memorial, Westminster Bridge. Tacitus wrote,—" We are now smaller and more glorious, only our glory is condensed." I am proud of being a Briton born, he who is ashamed to be what he is, ought to have been born with longer ears, and a fondness for thistles. The people of Wales to-day number half the population of London alone, they dwell on a mountainous ocean-washed promontory, and are surrounded by people alien in race and language, yet they give the whole kingdom its name,—England is only a part, Britannia the whole, and it is Britannia that rules the waves." The eldest son of England's Monarch is always called the Prince of Wales, and every Royal mandate is for England and Wales. It is not at all fair to estimate the Welsh now in proportion to their direct influence over the affairs of England. Genius, like the o?.U that becomes great, must have room to expand. Cambria can point out in the temple of fame men of renown in all professions and callings, without looking over England's head, back to an era of her own, before England was born. Wellington was the son of a Welsh woman from the house of Trefor. General Picton— who will doubt his blood, if there be any, let them appeal to the French after the Battle of Waterloo. Roger Williams, of Rhode Island, began the first civil govern- ment upon earth that gave equality and liberty of conscience and Archbishop Wil- liams, the champion of liberty in his days, was born at Abercomwy, in Caernarfonshire. The Royal Tudor family are Welsh, and did we not also give King Cromwell, against whom I am sorry to say the men of Gwent and Morganwg fought, but were badly beaten. After the licking he gave the gentry of Gla- morgan at St. Fagans, they gave up fighting and did what they could to lecture Cromwell on his ungodly acts. The Welshman has always been misunder- stood by the Saxon, and looked upon as one who is fond of creating disturbance, and is too proud. The valorous vindication of rights which the Englishman chooses to call turbu- lence, and our independent spirit, pride, is admitted by the fact that Celts will never allow their noses to be ground at their own expense. This is proved by the facts in our history, how our forefathers struggled for centuries against more numerous invaders. Even an English historian admits that the conquered is the one entitled to the greatest honour. The Welsh never quarrelled for the sake of quarrelling, but to assert their freedom. Much as our religious divisions are to be deplored in the present day, we cannot help admiring the cause of them they arise from the love of liberty, which is tnnate in the nature of every Celt, who loves the truth as much as he loves his own exist- ence, and his motto has always been Y gwir yn erbyn y byd." Om lledir am wir ba waeth," is another Welsh adage, which is characteristic of our race. When the clouds and dust of wars cleared away after the Saxon invasion, we find in this country, the Cambrians North and South of the Solway the men of Corn- wall in the South of England, and the people of Wales, as pure as ever, and as Welsh as before. This is the age of Arthur, who reigned a.t Caerlleon ar Wysg. whose reign was no fiction, but a brilliant fact. The legends of King Arthur speak of a period when nations were in convulsions, and races were fighting for life and dominion. Is it necessary to ask, what name so glorious to-day throughout the civilised world as that of King Arthur t If any doubt, let them read Idylls of the King." by Tennyson. When the Normans invaded our territory, the Welsh were as ever established among our mountains, and they rendered excellent account of themselves. And Owain Glyndwr. as a last effort for inde- pendency, gave the English no end of trouble for a period of fifteen years of wars and bloodshed. The state of literature in Wales in the time of Edward III. was such, that his Majesty attended an Eisteddfod in 1350, and the Welsh bards sang better after they were massacred than they did before. Our Language. Three thousand years have failed to obliter- ate the Welsh Nation and their language, or the Welsh characteristic and idiosyncracy. Our language is reckoned among the mother- tongues of Europe, having many suffrages to support us in saying as much, and we know of no one to deny it. Therefore we affirm it to be the most ancient, and as Camden says, we make no doubt of its having been the' language of the first inhabitants of these Islands. Y Gymraeg wen gem aur yw hi—a synw barcb Oes y byd fo iddi; Mirain iaith na chvmrwn i Dunell o aur am dani."

PA6EANT AT MONMOUTH.

HONOURED IN DEATH.

Ferndale Horse Show. I

LLANELLY SHOW AND PARADE.

LYDNEY AND DISTRICT EXHIBITION.

I-Commercial Travellers' Conference…

Welsh Socialists.

IN THE HEIGHT OF THE SEASON

[No title]

r I Some Leading Cardiff Oddfellows.…

!.ANCIENT CARDIFF LANDMARK.'-,III…

THE DEAF AND DUMB INSTITUTE…

INADEQUATE PENALTY.I

[No title]

.. CROWD ATTACK MOTORIST.

- ------------SCHOOLBOY'S…

Heaven and Hell. .

BRITISH RAILWAYS.

SWAN AND THE PIGEON.

[No title]

WELSH SINGERS ABROAD.

Y.M.C.A. Progress. . \

TELEGRAPH BOYS' FUTURE.