WALES

Wales and England have always had a close relationship. In the 13th century, the English king Edward I and his armies took control of Wales away from Llewellyn ap Gruffud. When Henry VIII was king, in the 16^thcentury, England and Wales became one country.
The modern Welsh nationalist political party, plaid Cymru, wants independence for Wales. It often works with the Scottish Nationalist Party, who want independence for Scotland.

Welsh is a living language: about 25% of Welsh people know it well, although they now English.

Food

Your breakfast in Wales may include black laverbread, which is a paste made with a type if seaweed. Despite its name, it isn’t bread. Other typical Welsh dishes are Welsh rarebit (cheese on toast made in a special way) and Bara Brith (Welsh fruit cake).

Sport

Rugby is the most popular sport in Wales and the Stadium called Cardiff Arms Park is the home of Welsh rugby. Football, cricket and snooker are also popular. You can also surfing on many beaches in Wales.

The land of Song

Wales is called ‘The land of Song’ and the Welsh song is called ‘The land of my fathers’. Wales is famous for its men’s choirs and they often sing before rugby matches. Katherine Jenkins and Bryn Terfel are two successful opera singers from Wales. There have also been several successful international singing stars, such as Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey and Duffy, and bands such as the Manic Street Preachers.

The Eisteddfod

The Eisteddfod is a Wels word which means ‘to be sitting together’. An Eisteddfod is an annual meeting of poets, musicians, singers and sometimes dancers who compete for prizes. It is an ancient Welsh tradition which started in 1776. The most important is the one in Wales; it attracts over 6.000 competitors and more than 150.000 visitors. At an Eisteddfod, you may see women in Welsh national dress. This is a tall black hat and red cloak. There is no special costume for men.

  Iconic places:

Cardiff is the capital of Wales and the location of the Millennium Stadium, where rugby and football are played. Cardiff was named European City of Sport in 2009. The second largest city in Wales is Swansea. Near there, there are some prize-winning beaches: Oxwich Bay, which was named ‘the most beautiful beach in Britain’; Three Cliffs Bay, which is called ‘Britain’s best beach’; Rhossili Bay, which is called ‘The British supermodel of beaches’.
St. David’s is the smallest city in the UK, with under 2.000 people, but it has a magnificent cathedral. Saint David is the Saint of Wales and is buried in the cathedral.
Snowdonia is a national park in North Wales. It includes mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, forests and coast. The name comes from the highest mountain, Mount Snowdon.
The English King Edward I wanted to control Wales, so he built huge castles to protect Wales. Four of the most important castles are: Caernarfon, Harlech, Beaumaris and Conwy.
Portmeirion is an Italian-style village in North Wales. Sir Clough William-Ellis, who designed the village, said that he wanted to bring the colour and beauty of the Mediterranean to this area of Wales.
The are many other beautiful areas in Wales, such as Cardigan Bay, the Pembrokeshire coast, the island of Anglesey, and interesting towns like Aberystwyth, Bangor and Llandudno.

Iconic people:

Two heroes of the Welsh people are Llewellyn the Great and Owen Glendower. In the thirteenth century, Llewellyn kept Wales independent from the Norman kings of England. Glendower was a nationalist leader who led a revolution against the English king, Henry IV. At first he was successful and in 1404 he created an independent Welsh parliament, but finally it was defeated by Henry’s son.

There is a legend about Llewellyn’s dog called Gellert. Gellert had to guard the king’s baby son while Llewellyn was away. He killed a wolf who tried to attack the child. When Llewellyn returned, he couldn’t see the baby and there was blood on the dog’s mouth, so he killed the dog. But then he found the baby safe under its bed.

Henry Morgan was a Welsh pirate who robbed ships and towns in the Caribbean in the seventeenth century.

In recent times, there have been many famous Welsh people: writers like Dylan Tomas, actors like Catherine Zeta Jones, politicians like Aneurin Bevan...

Richard Burton was the first world-famous Welsh actor.

Shirley Bassey grew up in a dangerous port area of Cardiff. She has had a long career in show business since she began performing. She is famous for singing the title songs for three James Bond films.

King Arthur and Branwen:

Some people say that the castle of Camelot was in Wales but some others say that it was in England. Certainly, the first time that anyone wrote about Arthur was in Wels literature. Many people think that the real Arthur was a Celt who fought against the Anglo-Saxons. On Bardsey Island there is a cave where local stories say that Arthur and Merlin are buried.

Another legend is about a girl called Branwen, whose brother was a giant, and a king of Wales. Branwen married the Irish king but when he took her to Ireland he was very unkind to her. Branwen sent news to her brother by a bird. Her brother walked through the sea to help her. There was a terrible war and many people were killed, including the Welsh and Irish kings. Branwen returned to Wales with the head of her dead brother.

Wales is a small country with a population of only about 3 million. Bit it has its own identity and its own strong Celtic culture.