The Master's Daughter Website

Wales and the Welsh

Welsh words and phrases used in the Master's Daughter series:

Cariad - beloved or love

Carwr - lover

Prydferth - handsome, beautiful, attractive

Rwy'n dy garu di. - I love you.

Noswaith dda. - Good evening.

"Cymru am beth" - "Wales forever!"

Fun facts about Wales and the Welsh:

Owain Glyndwr (Anglicized as Owen Glendower), who was mentioned in Per Lei as a Welsh national hero, was a war leader who led Welsh rebellion against English rule during the Wars of the Roses. He was later considered the last great Prince of Wales in the vein of Llewellyn the Great. Many of his martial tactics harkened back to the old Welsh custom of using the woods and mountains to your army's advantage rather than barricading yourself inside castles like the English. His habit of "knocking down castles", whimsically noted by Mara, came of the fact that almost all the castles in Wales were of English construct, and many held by the English or their allies. (Not to mention the obvious wisdom of making sure his enemies couldn't recapture said castles and use them against him again.)

It's beyond me why he hasn't gotten more attention since he kicked English butt more impressively than William Wallace ever did. But I guess playing Owen wouldn't have given Mel Gibson an excuse to wear a kilt. :-P
Wales is also notable having what is in my personal opinion the coolest flag ever. The flag, shown at the top of this page, is known as "Y Ddraig Goch", which means "The Red Dragon".
Southwest Wales has become known for (among other things), its polydactyl cats- cats with extra toes. They are so common in the area around Cardiganshire (Ceredigion) that they have become known as known as "Cardi-cats"!
A few uniquely Welsh holidays:
- St. Dwynwen's Day, January 25 - A holiday honoring the Welsh patron saint of lovers, based on a tale rather more depressing than I'm inclined to recount here. Nonetheless, it's a nice bit of culture, not to mention much easier to get dinner reservations for than That February Holiday. ;-) Thanks to a recent upsurge of interest in restoring Welsh custom and culture, St. Dwynwen's Day cards have become available for sale in many parts of Britain.
- St David's Day, March 1st - A kind of Welsh National Pride day. It was a custom in past centuries to wear a leek on St. David's Day to show pride in your Welsh blood.
  
  There's a conversation about this in Shakespeare's Henry V in which Henry's Welsh captain Fluellen tries to tease Henry out of his upset by speculation that, "I do believe, your majesty takes no scorn to wear the leek upon Saint Davy's day".
  
  Your majesty says very true: if your majesties is remembered of it, the Welshmen did good service in a garden where leeks did grow, wearing leeks in their Monmouth caps; which, your majesty knows, is an honourable badge of the service: and, I do believe, your majesty takes no scorn to wear the leek upon Saint Davy's day.
  
  Since Henry V actually had little use for the Welsh, as demonstrated by his clashes with Owain Glyndwyr, one could guess Shakespeare added that bit as a tip of the hat to the Tudor monarch reigining at the time of his writing. The Tudors had little real claim to Welsh blood, but they played up what they had in hopes of winning over the proud and martially talented Welsh. It's debatable how much that actually worked. The Tudors also considered themselves the spiritual if not blood descendants of Henry V and the other Lancaster rulers, hence the reason for Shakespeare's glamourizing of the Lancastrians in his plays (and accompanying diabolizing of their enemies, the Yorks).
  
  I've heard (though not confirmed) that it's also acceptable to wear a daffodil rather than a leek for St. David's Day.