Vanishing Welsh Names: The Race to Save Welsh Heritage
Is Welsh heritage being erased? The fight to save Welsh names & reclaim Celtic heritage: Snowdon Vs Yr Wyddfa
In Snowdonia, North Wales, is the highest mountain in Wales. In English, it's called Snowdon, but it's Welsh name is Yr Wyddfa. Snowdonia itself also has a Welsh name: Eryri. Outside of Wales, they are known mostly by their English names which are easier for non-Welsh-speakers to pronounce. But there is a push in Wales to encourage people to refer to them by their original, Welsh names.
What does Snowdon mean? It's thought to have come from the Anglo-Saxon word for "Snow Dune" or "Snow Hill". So what's the meaning of Yr Wyddfa? The Welsh name means "Grave". Welsh folklore tells of a giant, Rhita Gawr, who roamed Wales, defeating armies and sewing the beards of vanquished kings into his cloak until he was defeated by the Legendary King Arthur. Welsh folklore lives on in Welsh names, and renaming them threatens to take Celtic heritage away from the landscape. This has ignited a debate over whether we should use the names Snowdon or Yr Wyddfa, Llyn Bochlwyd or Lake Australia, Porth Trecastell or Cable bay, to name just a few.
John Pughe Roberts pressured the Snowdonia national park authority to refer to Snowdon as Yr Wyddfa, and started a petition that received 5,000 signatures. We met with him learn why he thought it was important to reclaim Welsh place names.
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00:00-00:54 - Snowdon or Yr Wyddfa?
00:55-01:53 - Snowdonia is one of the most Welsh-Speaking parts of Wales
01:54-02:44 - Welsh names: Complicated to Pronounce but Part of History
02:45-04:17 - Llyn Bochlwyd & Porth Trecastell
04:18-05:04 - Welsh Folklore - The Story of Rhitta Gawr
05:05-07:08 - Protecting Welsh Names in Eryri (Snowdonia)
07:09-09:20 - Changing Attitudes to the Welsh Language
09:21-10:57 - Sacrificing Welsh Heritage for Names Easier to Pronounce
#wales #welshculture #Welshnames #welshlanguage #yrwyddfa #cymru #cymruambyth
Пікірлер: 431
We have every right to preserve our language it was here first before English
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
Glad to see that the vote passed and it will officially be referred to as Yr Wyddfa!
@philup6274
Жыл бұрын
I would think you can make every effort to not use English.
@waynekieft4952
Жыл бұрын
@@user-cj4xo6vp4t CYMRU AM BYTH!
@marcwilliams2929
Жыл бұрын
@@user-cj4xo6vp4t CYMRU AM BYTH!
@martinburke362
Жыл бұрын
No such thing or place such as Wales until the Anglo saxons called it so waelas=Foreigner, the same applies to walonia in Belgium so there's nothing intrinsically unique about Wales at all a bunch of politically inspired clap trap
Diolch yn fawr Tiernan! Thank you so much 🙂 Your respect, acknowledgement and admiration for other cultures and languages, the Celtic ones in particular, speaks volumes for your character and integrity. We need more people like you in the world. Arbennig o dda!! Especially good video here.
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
Thank you for the kind words Owain, so glad you enjoyed the video!! I have several more videos from the Celtic nations on their way 😊It was such a privilege to spend so much time learning about them last year - as someone who never learned much about Celtic cultures and languages when I was younger, it was really eye-opening.
@dylanjones7485
Жыл бұрын
Fellow welshy :D
Your videos are great! I'm English but have been learning Welsh for some time now and I'm very passionate about the language being preserved for the next generations. I hope one day to be among those million Welsh speakers.
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed them! That's fantastic, the Welsh language revival is such an encouraging success story. It's such a shame how neglected and damaged some of the Celtic Languages and cultures have been by the English over the years (I'm also English, and only came to learn in depth about them all relatively recently). How long have you been learning Welsh for?
@anfiebrigantia2154
Жыл бұрын
@@TieranFreedman It is a real shame many of the Celtic languages have dwindled in numbers but the revival efforts are really encouraging. I enjoyed your videos about Cornwall and their efforts at reviving the language, too. I've been learning Welsh on and off for the last 4 years now. I'm nowhere near the level I'd like to be but with a little patience and time I'll get there!
@Uaeboravisma
Жыл бұрын
@@anfiebrigantia2154 as a welsh person i think its important for us to know the culture from all the home nations
@nicholasjones7312
Жыл бұрын
Spot on! 🏴
@darkodraco
Жыл бұрын
@@Uaeboravisma what culture? every other person is a white person from england/ireland 💀
I am 75 and from South Wales, back in my school days there was no chance of learning Welsh in school, it was effectively banned as a language and culture. That was so wrong, and I am very glad that has changed now. I never learned Welsh as I moved away to join the RAF so have never been around the Welsh language, but I love to hear it spoken.
@MargaretUK
11 ай бұрын
I believe all children in Welsh schools have to learn Welsh now.
I was born in Bolton and only moved to Wales when I was I think about 9. I can't speak much Welsh beyond basic greetings, asking where daily essentials are in shops, and saying thank you. I'd love to learn Welsh but my autism has made it a challenge. But unlike most English people who moved here, I'm 100% in favour of doing everything to improve Welsh speaking rates - I think hearing it more often would probably help me pick it up more - so I'm all for using Welsh place names in place of English ones, and use them instead in conversation quite often despite living in an area with few Welsh speakers. If I ever made the mistake of having children, I'd make more of an effort to learn as much Welsh as possible so they could grow up with the language, an opportunity I never got. It's a beautiful language so to see the amount of hate it gets on Facebook really pains me.
@user-cj4xo6vp4t
Жыл бұрын
We don't hate the language so much as we are disgusted by it. But yeah, it would be a good thing if it went extinct.
@CymruGoch_
11 ай бұрын
@@user-cj4xo6vp4t do you just enjoy being an arsehole in comment sections?
I'm a 53 year old man, and this brought me to tears. Thank you so much for speaking out about this, it's greatly appreciated!
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
Thank you for sharing this feedback, it means a lot 💚🏴
Even English names for Welsh towns have been changed. Welshpool, Y Trallwng, in English was originally known as Pool, but was changed when the railways came so as not to confuse it with Poole in Dorset, unbelievable. Really good documentary and done in a sensitive way, respect.
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
Thanks Peter, glad you enjoyed it! Hoping my pronunciations were somewhat acceptable 😅 I didn't know that, thanks for the information.
@diogenesegarden5152
11 ай бұрын
Glad you mentioned Dorset. There appears to be quite a few names derived from the ancient British/Welsh in this county. I was reading an old text online a few years ago regarding this (I’ve tried looking for it since but can’t locate it). Apparently the Dor in Dorset/Dorchester was derived from dwr, (although the academic consensus suggests it comes from ‘dura’ or hard relating to the chalky soil, although chalk isn’t that hard but the associated flint is) the Welsh word for water and believe that the pre Roman name for Dorchester was Caer Dwr, a fortified settlement on the water (meadows), from back in the day when the climate was much wetter and warmer. The text also suggested that Blandford was derived from Blaen (f)ford(d), not sure of the spelling, but described an upper ford or important crossing point. Stour as in the river was derived from ‘Is dwr’ which I think might have meant main waterway and Durdle Door, that amazing feature in the chalk cliffs near Lulworth Cove was so named because a Durdle is an ancient name for a drill, and door, again from dwr meaning water. That would accurately describe the feature, ‘drilled by water’.
Diolch yn fawr. I feel it is vital to keep the historical aspects of Cymru alive. A name can hold a lot of history. It always saddens me to think that up until fairly recently, people would of been told that their native tongue was considered rude. I’d be interested to see what the English would feel if told their language was rude when they visit other countries. 😢 Here’s to more Cymru learning the language. 🏴
@wor53lg50
Жыл бұрын
Its starting to happen now..
@user-cj4xo6vp4t
Жыл бұрын
It was rude and still is. I will give any welshie speaking that horrible tongue a stern look or a good talking to should they utter a word of that ghastly language.
Amazing this was so beautiful thank you for making it. And in case anyone reads this, "Snowdon/Snodonia" are now offically Yr Wyddfa/Eryri, not just that but Brecon Beacons national park also reverted to only Welsh Bannau Brycheiniog. Not even fluent but I am so happy to see the lanugage grow.
@TieranFreedman
10 ай бұрын
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it! Was awesome to see that news 😁
Fantastic video and so happy to see the Welsh reclaiming their language and heritage. I think it's pretty shameful how few English people speak any foreign language.
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
Thanks Alex, glad you enjoyed it! Yeah and it's good to see it happening to varying degrees in all of the Celtic nations. Haha I agree, but then again I'm one of those monolingual English people 😅
@ellismeah8110
Жыл бұрын
The amount of migrants living in England now, the English are learning , because in many areas English isn't the first language
@user-cj4xo6vp4t
Жыл бұрын
Better to be monolingual than to speak welsh.
@brillo86
Жыл бұрын
@user-cj4xo6vp4t Few bitter comments on here pal!! Do you have anything better to do?
@user-cj4xo6vp4t
Жыл бұрын
Bitter? No. Scornful? Yes. The welsh have every reason to be looked down upon. And as long as red-faced welshies shagging their ewe while replying to me with one hand typing then I shall have nothing better to do.
Thank you for this video (Tapadh leibh a charaid) greetings from Scotland. It's been a similar story with us, during the times of Thatcher and John Major, they tried to anglicise the place names, I remember the sign for Alt an Dubh being changed to the black water river. No idea why they had to do this, because it just got the backs up of local people and led to a view that we are ruled by colonialists and imperialists, which we are. It was interesting to hear the lady talk about her gran being told off for speaking Wels, I know older people who had Gaelic beaten out of them at school, so can talk it fluently, but cant read or write it, beannachd dha ar caraidean sa Chuimrigh
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed the video! Yeah it's so sad to hear stories like that. I met another guy who will feature in a future video who had the same thing happen to him with his Shetland dialect. But its great to see so many language revival efforts in the Celtic nations and to meet people like John who are actively pushing to protect Celtic heritage.
@cassandraseven3478
Жыл бұрын
It's about control and erasing true history. Same thing happening in America, statues being torn down, etc. They won't succeed.
@D_B_Cooper
Жыл бұрын
Bollocks
@McConnachy
Жыл бұрын
@@D_B_Cooper 🏴👍
@internetual7350
Жыл бұрын
Is that last sentence "Greetings to our friends in Wales?"
I am a welshman who grew up in a anglinised part of wales. Welsh was never taught in my school days. The last welsh speaker in my family was my great grandmother blodwyn. She died in 1974. But fast forward to 2023. Both my children have welsh names, Ioan and Eira, and the school they goto does 20% of the classes in welsh. I would love to see a campaign to encourage people to consider their children to have welsh names.
My Nain moved to Canada as a young lady and made it a point to teach her children and grandchildren some Welsh. I've always appreciated that gift
Remember ONE THING... The Welsh Language is the heritage of all people of British descent, not just the Welsh. Many English people are learning the language too - a significant number in fact.... Great Video !
@PortilloMoment
Жыл бұрын
There are about 100,000 Welsh speakers living in England - the largest concentration outside Wales itself I think. How many are from Wales I don't know, but I do know that Welsh is a very popular language to learn 'as a hobby'. It's all a win.
@user-cj4xo6vp4t
Жыл бұрын
If Welsh is the heritage of all people of British descent then I am ashamed to be British.
@robsurname4054
Жыл бұрын
@@user-cj4xo6vp4t You should be ashamed that you do not know much at all. Ignorance is not good for anything except playing the joker is it ?. The word "British" is of Brythonic origin (Welsh celtic).. Remember the romans called our land after our Welsh word "Prydain" which is an area of land that includes Wales, England and Southern Scotland.
@robinholland1136
Жыл бұрын
@@user-cj4xo6vp4t What actually is your problem?
@user-cj4xo6vp4t
11 ай бұрын
Asking what my problem is is akin to asking a person what their problem is with rats infesting their home.
The amount of Irish streets and towns had there name's changed to English ones is a disgrace. A lot more Welsh people speak there native language than Irish. Respect!
Diolch - eyes are on the culture of Wales and I do appreciate this kind of content! Sometimes it just feels like, as a Welsh speaker, I'm shooting into the Ether about such a rich culture. It helps when those who don't know about it all actually become curious about it ❤️ Also fun fact: the real name for Llanfairpwll (or LlanfairPG to the locals) was ... Just that Llanfairpwll. Llanfairpwllgwyngyll[etc] was written by a Scotsman to make money lol.
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
It does seem like efforts to increase the number of Welsh speakers and interest in the language is paying off which is very encouraging. Glad you enjoyed the video! And yeah I did hear that about LlanfairPG, mentioned it in another video but I should probably have clarified that in this one too.
@user-cj4xo6vp4t
Жыл бұрын
All eyes on wales... All eyes that will need to be splashed with bleach considering how awful and contemptible that country is.
You do a terrific job on these short films...your writing, drone work, interviews, and B-roll is all very nicely done. It's gotta be hard to move the gear by bike, too. Keep up the great work!
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
Thanks Bob, glad you're enjoying them! Haha yeah I'm currently on the road filming for the next series of videos and about half of the weight on my bike is filming/audio equipment 😂
@bobkrist1
Жыл бұрын
@@TieranFreedman Might be worth doing a BTS short of your setup...everybody wants to cut the weight of the gear, even if we're old guys traveling in cars🙂I'd love to see how you've pared down your gear for pedaling.
Just found your channel and wow! The production value, cinematography and storytelling are really really impressive on all your videos. I have to wonder if you studied documentary film making because 95% of the time I wouldn't be able to tell if this was made by a network or not. And the 5% is just distinguishable as biking vlog content. Your interviews and choice of subject matter are also really excellent due to the fact that you are telling stories that need to be told. I love travel vlogs but always want the travelers to somehow be doing real journalism instead of just showing me what they ate. I think your approach really serves to honor and respect the places and people you encounter by listening to what matters to them and showing it to the world in a way that is relatable. IMO this is the perfect counter to the generalizing and frequently exploitative travel culture that has people "scrolling experiences" just to check off boxes. What we all need more of is to be listened to. Good work my friend!! Keep it up!!!
@TieranFreedman
4 ай бұрын
Thank you for this comment, you perfectly summed up why I started making videos like this in the first place and what motivates me to keep going! Very cool to see someone else put this into words. Funnily enough I studied zoology, so nothing to do with film making. But I have had a few years of practice. There's so many tutorials you can find online now for editing and animating that it has totally opened it up to anyone who has a computer and some time on their hands. The lack of any training/studying did mean I had a bit of a rocky start though haha So glad you're enjoying the videos, there are many more to come! Thanks again for this feedback 😊
It's very interesting video. I think people have to fight for preserve their culture. My ancestors came from Galiza, Celtic land. But that region became Latin with Rome invasion. Also they have conserved some Celtic costumes, they're are "Romanized". Sorry, I don't speak English very well. Thanks a lot. 🌻
@CaelanDafydd
11 ай бұрын
You can see in the name Galicia / Galiza that it comes from the word Gaelic. As you say the language has been lost due to Romanisation, but it's interesting to hear that traditions like the bagpipes have been continued since then. Oh and by the way - you're English is great!
Amazing video! Thoroughly enjoying your Celtic series! I’ve long shared similar views in preserving these languages and letting the cultures thrive!
@TieranFreedman
9 ай бұрын
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
The quality of this video and the others on the channel are outstanding, not to mention the quality of its content, very insightful and well researched and the outstanding pronunciations. Chwarae teg, mae'r fideo mor wych chi 'di ennill fy "sub" - Fair play your video is so fantastic you've earned a subscription. (though soon enough you'll be earning many more, the algorithm seems to have recognized your talent)
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
Thank you for the kind words, sp glad you're enjoying the videos, many more to come! Haha fingers crossed, that Cornwall video seems to have suddenly pleased the KZread gods
Diolch yn fawr Iawn. Really enjoying these vids, I live in Wales and its been great seeing you cycle through some of my favourite areas.
@TieranFreedman
6 ай бұрын
Glad you're enjoying them, it was a beautiful section of our journey (if a little hilly)!
💯 support for preserving the indigenous dialects and ancient languages! Best regards for the video!
Great video!! Da iawn! It's important to speak about about the 'internalised hatred' that was and still is, present in Wales that contributed to the language decline. It's good that people are gaining more confidence in speaking Welsh.
Great video. Thanks for highlighting this issue.
Another video that’s brought me to tears. Amazing job again. Cymru am byth YES CYMRU
@TieranFreedman
6 ай бұрын
Thanks so much, really happy to hear it resonated with you
Brilliant video Tiernan. The part about it being seen as rude to speak Welsh really rang true to my experiences. Really well researched and much appreciated!
As a person born in Wales, thank you for this video. I live in Catalonia now and i can see the parrelels (but Catalan and Spanish are languages of the same family); Palafrugell is maintained as the offical town name, and it means "Spade" and "the river Frugell" IIRC. I like the Catalan language. Where Spanish just has non-English letters like "é" and "ñ", Catalan offers a far more intresting library, with things such as "à", "ä", "ç", "ny" (which is the same to the English version of "ñ", "ny"), and some even more intresting morephemes like "-se" and "t' "). However, due to a lack of resources, i don't really know Catalan beyond the basic orthography. Since Catalan is similar to the big national language, it's a lot easier to teach. Hopefully this allows it to become more popular. I hope Welsh, and other celtic languages, also continues to gain more popularity.
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed the video! That's really fascinating, thank you for sharing that. I have visited Barcelona very briefly once, but didn't have much time to learn about the region, culture, or language. I would love to go back, maybe it's a potential future video 😁
I would love to see a similar thing in Cumbria.
Well researched and a respectful piece. Diolch yn fawr iawn. Yma o hyd.
So important to preserve minority languages if we don't react to the massive suppression of cultures we'll be all the same culture, so important to preserve diversity like it is in nature. Greetings from Catalonia.
@user-cj4xo6vp4t
Жыл бұрын
Very much so. Except for welsh.
Cyfarchion o Eryri.Wedi mwynhau.Diolch am yr arlwy👍
English imperialism does my head in. Fair play to you for pointing it out.
Another gorgeous and heartfelt video. Thank you for your work covering the Celtic nations and their languages. Here in the States, relatively recently was the changing of 'Mt McKinley' back to its native name 'Denali,' ("the tall one") the name given to the mountain by the native Alaskan people. I am also reminded of the desire to recognize 'Mt. Everest' by its local name(s): Qomolangma (Tibetan: "Holy Mother"), or Sagarmāthā (Nepali: "the Head in the Great Blue Sky"). I'm not surprised that mountains come up so often in conversations like these; they ARE the land. Native language and names sing the songs of that land over generations, and- as you said- once gone, will not come back. Excited for any future videos regarding Éire (Ireland). Cheers!
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it! I hadn't heard about a lot of those, thank you for sharing this. It's great to hear about the restoration of original names in other parts of the world. They are such an important connection between a people and the landscape. Not too much longer until the videos from Éire come out!
thank you for making these videos
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
Glad you're enjoying them!
Diolch am y fideo hon. Y Wyddfa is the origional name and was changed to 'Snowdon'. Cymraeg cynta', Cymru am Byth!
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
Yep, John was quick to remind us that it is not "renaming" the mountain despite what the headlines said, just calling it by it's original name. Glad you enjoyed the video!
The same erasure of traditional place names unfortunately occired in Ireland due to centuries of colonialism and cultural suppression. Irish names all have a meaning behind them and they were replaced by anglicised versions of the names like in Wales, fortunately there was an effort post-independence to revive some names but many still are anglicised
@jackoh991
Жыл бұрын
I was shocked that the Welsh names haven't been anglisised but changed. Why isn't snowdon called "Grave" and people now saying let's change it back. But to not just translate the name but replace it is beyond disrespectful
good lessons from Cymru... some people do not think "identity" could have any importance, but as we see it is a very powerful force which can revive lots of dormant worldviews, mores, customs, ways of doing things, aspirations, ideals... that is why my children and I want to visit our 4 home-communities, which are dispersed through 4 european countries, far far away from our wild and wonderful patagonian lands
Amazing video. Hopefully it gets more attention! Diolch yn fawr
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
Thank you, glad you liked it 😁
With the arrival of the Railway, Bangor-is-y-coed was rechristened by the Victorians as Bangor-on-Dee, because it needed to be differentiated with Bangor (city in Gwynedd) but “needed” to be pronounced by the English.
@user-cj4xo6vp4t
Жыл бұрын
Smart on the part of the english to make unintelligible horseshit pronouncable.
and this is why we had Brian Friel and and his play "Translations" def check it out man!
wonderful video
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
Thank you! Glad you liked it 😁
It's a great video. This is so true. As an English only speaker who has lived here for 54 of my 58 years, I'm embarrassed to say how little of the Welsh language I can speak. However, I have definitely moved to be so much more defensive of the Welsh language. How easy is it for everyone to include the correct names of everything. This is absolutely how it should be. Bring on the changes & defend what makes this country so beautiful.
I am definitely in support of welsh language and name preservation. Instead of having the english names like snowdon, maybe have an english phonetic pronunciation or ipa on the sign so foreignors and english speakers will know how to pronounce the name
@barnowl5774
Жыл бұрын
Excellent idea!
@user-cj4xo6vp4t
Жыл бұрын
Nah. Kick welshies out of their country (the Irish Sea would be a good place to send them) and scrub the filth out of that country (the welsh language, welsh place names, etc.) before settling english people there. Hope this helps!
Adra ❤️ i come from north wales and welsh is my first language. I have lived away from home for 15 months now and the hiraeth is with me every day
Excellent video. Diolch yn fawr!
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
Thank you, glad you liked it!
When the time is suitable I will be teaching and learning my family about the brythonic and gaulic regions.
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
That's great! 💙
@user-cj4xo6vp4t
Жыл бұрын
That's great! Except for welsh, please don't pass that slop onto your children.
da iawn, fideo gwych!
Well done on this. I am English but 100% support the need to maintain Celtic Culture
Thank you for highlighting this, my mum (Nainy to my children) was ridiculed at school for speaking Welsh (which she spoke at home) I so regret she didn't have time to teach me to speak the beautiful language (apart from a few songs) But she helped me learn some French instead. I have tried to learn it but can't get to grips with the first letter of words changing - 78% Welsh and proud, one day I will be able to hold a conversation.
@colinlambert882
Жыл бұрын
Your mum was being very practical as fluency in French, opens up the prospect of living and working in many other countries. She could’ve chosen to speak Welsh to you as well as English when you were very young and the you would’ve acquired both languages.
@barnowl5774
Жыл бұрын
@@colinlambert882 My Welsh parents went to school under the 'Welsh Not'. Children were encouraged to dob on one another to pass it on so they did not bear the sign with the words. The last child to have the board or stick passed to him/her at the end of the day got punished by cane strokes. Parents did not speak Welsh at home to protect their children from accidently speaking it at school and being punished.
@alicemi4155
Жыл бұрын
@@barnowl5774 Unbelievable! Children got beaten up for speaking their tongue? In Britain? Φρίκη!
@barnowl5774
Жыл бұрын
@@alicemi4155 Yes. It was a way for the English to gain control as the language united the Welsh people. They could not understand the language so tried to get rid of it to gain power. In history, first came the Romans, then the English were the who were Angles (from where the name of English language came), Saxons and Jutes from Western Europe who invaded England. Then came the Normans with their French. The Welsh are the original inhabitants of Britain and were pushed back to the west of the country into what is now known as Wales but the Welsh are calling it Cymry .The name of Wales was given by the Romans. It means 'stranger'- in their own land! (Cymry means my 'country.') Thanks for your interest.
Hello everyone, love from an italian australian, please keep your wonderful culture and language, we love you all
Welsh should be made to be the overwhelming dominant language in 🏴 Wales
@user-cj4xo6vp4t
Жыл бұрын
Lol fuck no. It ought to run its natural course and go extinct like it should.
@MassachusettsTrainVideos1136
11 ай бұрын
@@user-cj4xo6vp4tPiss off
I'm English but have been going to Eryri for many years, way back I learned how to pronounce the names of the mountains I walked on and the crags I climbed on. I speak a little Cymraeg but have managed to become an ambassador for Eryri. It is a special place, with its language, flag, anthem and culture my feeling for Eryri is this "Hiraeth".
Awesome video. My fiance's grandmother is Welsh
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it ☺️ oh cool, does she speak the language?
Tieran, I’m interested in your angle, I’ve watched a few of your videos, and as a born and bred Welshman (in a different era, I was quite matey with the son of John (Barnard) Jenkins from MAC, the partial subject of one of your videos) who now lives just up the road from you in Poynings, I’m assuming that you are interested in wholesale change for the UK, what do you see as the result of the break up of the status quo, and what makes you think it would be an improvement on what already exists, from your own POV?
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
Hi Alun, I had no Idea John had family so close to me! When talking about breaking up the status quo, are you referring to independence for the Celtic nations? My goal in making these videos is mainly to draw attention to Celtic culture and identity. It is a real shame that the diversity of languages and cultures in this part of the world is often ignored, when it should be celebrated. I never learned about Welsh, Manx, Cornish, Irish Gaelic, or Scots Gaelic in school, and was taught English history as though it was the uniform history of the entirety of the British Isles. Most people I know in England don't know that the Cornish or Manx languages even exist, and when I go abroad that's even more stark. What was particularly crazy to me was that I never learned about the conflict in Ireland at all (and I have a video on that coming later in the year). I made these videos partly because of my own personal curiosity about the topics, and also in the hope that someone would watch them who didn't know much about the Celtic nations. But to loosely answer your question, some of the main improvements I'd like to see in this regard are some strong regulations on second/holiday home ownership, along with the preservation of the Celtic languages. Once a language is lost, preserving the culture and identity that it was part of becomes much more difficult. Some of the Celtic languages, like Welsh, are recovering successfully, but it's abundantly clear that the current status quo is not tackling the issue of second homes, which threatens to decimate some of the cultural heartlands of the Celtic nations. The two issues go hand-in-hand in a lot of ways; how can you preserve a language if you keep reducing the cohesion of communities that speak it with unregulated second-home ownership that leaves half of said communities empty for most of the year? So, any change to that would be an improvement from my perspective.
@alunjprice
Жыл бұрын
@@TieranFreedman Thanks for the reply, identity is a very complex subject, from my own POV, growing up in South Wales where the vast majority of the population is English speaking (half my mates went to a Welsh medium school, but we all spoke English on the streets), there is sometimes a kickback against the perceived advantages of of having fluent Cymraig in the job market and such, there was a perception that there was a connected “taffia” in control of how far you could progress in certain professions, especially the media, so, many like my mother had an anti-language mentality, odd in many ways, as her mother was from the north and had Welsh as her mother tongue and, only ever spoke a sort of broken English. All that being said, I’m a supporter of the preservation of the language despite my own lack of fluency, but I’d guard you against having too much of a sentimental view of people like John Jenkins and his ilk, many of them were pretty xenophobic and had a deep hatred of all things English, I’d also caution against wanting to over preserve ethnically pure Welsh areas, banning the sale of second homes is a good idea on paper, but it can lead to massive wealth disparity between parts of the UK in practice. Personally I’m against the break up of the UK, but I try to stay out of matters of Welsh independence because I no longer live there and it’s for the those that do live there like my family to decide their own destiny. I’ve enjoyed watching your videos, but all I really want to say is be a little bit careful when dealing with ultra-nationalists and their rosy view of “Celtic destiny”, because quite often, they don’t really speak for the majority.
Really interesting to hear nains story. Such a shame these fellow countrymen fell from grace. I really hope a Celtic revival is coming
Great videos on Isle of Mann, Cornwall, and Wales (or Cymru). The disappearance of an indigenous language is a loss of history and a people. I am of Chinese descent and growing up in America I have also felt a pressure not to speak Mandarin in front of other Americans. There was always a feeling of inappropriateness to speak anything other than American English. I suspect many of my Hispanic friends might feel the same way about speaking Mexican Spanish in public. I hope the Cymru do no lose their language and culture. It is funny. I was watching a Sky News report and there was a mention among UK citizens that "foreigners" (I think that means recent immigrants to the Great Britain) should learn British English and British culture and try to fit in. Many Brexiteers feel that "foreigners" should become British when they immigrate to Great Britain. So what would be their position be on the Scots speaking Gaelic and the other Celtic minorities. This is a tough issue. I am an American first. I am most fluent in American English, but I am proud of my Chinese heritage. America is a new nation and we do not have a distant cultural past to preserve. America is also a country of immigrants, so Americans accept pluralism.
The theory that Wales means foreigner or outsider is pure myth. Its pretty much Gaul spelled with a W instead of a G. The Romans had an aversion to the letter G for some reason. Take as an example the name of the Welsh tribe Y Gododdin; the Latin is spelled Votadini (Vs are pronounced as Ws in Latin). The Germanic peoples simply used the Romans’ pronunciation of Wealas to describe the wider Celtic peoples. Replace the W for G and you get that Wales and Gaelic carry the same origin and meaning.
@mikemurphy5671
Жыл бұрын
I have always believed this G=>W theory - today we are referred to as Galles by French, Spanish, Italians etc... If you want another example try Guarantee = Warranty. We are not Foreigners. We live in the Land of Gauls.
@TreforTreforgan
Жыл бұрын
@@mikemurphy5671 spot on. Couldn’t have put it better myself
@thostaylor
11 ай бұрын
And Wallone.
As someone from England but whose other half is Welsh, I always found it strange that there was a place called Snowdonia until I learned the real name of Eryri and Yr Wyddfa did I realise that Snowden was just he name given in English not Welsh. I tend to refer to the place more as Eryri though purely because my memory isn't the best. So it will take a while longer to remember the full name when not written in front of me. Edit: 9:17 this goes for all languages, at the end of the day we are terrible in this country (England anyway) for speaking other languages and while it is getting better. Please ignore people who complain about you speaking anything other than English in front of them. Unless they are involved with the conversation they are the rude ones for butting in.
Diolch/slàinte/cheers! 🇺🇸🏴🇮🇪❤️🏴
I'm American but I have strong Welsh heritage and have researched my family best I can, where can I better learn the Welsh language? Learning more about Wales has always been a big interest to me. Also wanted to say hi to any of my distant Owens cousins!
@WelahMan
9 ай бұрын
Duolingo. But be careful, the North and South speak slightly different forms of Welsh
I don't think the "cable" in Cable Bay should have been referred to so dismissively as "a cable was laid a few years ago"...this was a massive piece of engineering in 1902...linking the UK with the USA via an underwater telegraph cable....a huge human achievement for the time. Btw, I'm hugely in favour of retaining Welsh names here in Wales and have changed the name of my house back to it's historic Welsh name. Just need to be accurate in reporting....
@user-cj4xo6vp4t
Жыл бұрын
It should have been called shithole bay, a title more befitting in a country like wales.
Maith thú Tiernan! Ceapaim go bhfuil se seo go hiontach!
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
Go raibh maith agat, sásta gur bhain tú sult as! (Bhí orm dul chuig google translate chun cabhair a fháil le seo😂)
The opposition was making no sense, the English weren't just translating, but actually giving the places new names, that's why everyone's so mad.
A really well-made film. Interesting though,that when one applies the lessons and wishes expressed to English,it all comes unravelled...
✊️🇮🇪🏴
WOW, an Englishman who gets it. Thank you so much for this....
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed the video!
@Konoronn
9 ай бұрын
Imagine acting like there's any difference between Welsh and English people.
Placenames belong to the IDENTITY of the people inhabiting the land and its cities.
It's fascinating to hear about the fights to maintain and, in the case of Man, regain regional languages. The same effort is being mounted in the States by the Indigenous peoples. They are struggling to regain their languages and culture. I firmly stand with everyone doing this. I'm Norwegian and I am also the only one of my father's children who speaks his native tongue. Everyone else only speaks English because they were all raised in the U.S. While there are still plenty of Norwegian speakers in the world, it's lost within my father's line. I'd love to pass it on, though. The problem is getting anyone else interested. I feel these folks struggle on a personal level.
When was living in Ireland in the 90’s i always wrote the addresses on letters in English AND Irish ( despite being Swedish ). To me the address in Irish was the ”real” address. My Swedish friends and family had to get used to writing to ”Cionn tSáile, Contae Chorcaí”. 😂 Language is part of culture. To me it was a way of showing respect.
Old names that are used will survive. For example: Pen-y-ghent still has its old Cumbric Welsh name even though that language is long dead.
Diolch yn fawr iawn am hyn thank you so much for this. Very enjoyable. Let’s do something on local dialects 😃🏴🏴🏴
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
So glad you enjoyed the video! If I'm back again to film that sounds like an interesting topic ☺️
How can anyone disagree with Welsh people deciding themselves to use the traditional names? It's disrespectful to change the name of a house you own if it's historical
One that’s always irked me is Casnewydd to Newport, surely the name is closer to Newcastle than it is to Newport. Just doesn’t make sense to me
it isn't just the fight for Welsh names but in the 1950s the Welsh Language was banned for a long time , I am so happy the welsh are retaking back their language it was and is disgusting what the English did to the Welsh :( I hope one day that , The Welsh people choose to only speak Welsh in Wales and only speak English if there is English tourists
As an English person who lives near the Welsh border I found this very interesting. I do try to use Welsh place names where possible even though I don't speak the language. I used to work with a few fluent Welsh speakers, but would be very annoyed if they spoke Welsh to someone else in front of me, I did consider that to be bad manners I'm afraid.
@WelahMan
9 ай бұрын
Speaking your own language isn't bad manners
@MargaretUK
9 ай бұрын
@@WelahMan Correct, unless the people around you don't speak it and can't understand what you are saying. You could be saying bad things about them.
@WelahMan
9 ай бұрын
@@MargaretUK it's none of their business really
I support every single language. Especially the ones that have been banned by an imperialist country. In Canada we've had the same problem with the English and then with the canadian governement. They forced French-canadians and all the native to give up on our languages everywhere in Canada. Luckily, some places resisted and lots of indigenous communities and part of New-Brunswick, plus Québec still speak something else than English.
Agree, live in England but welsh through and through. It our history
We've had similar things in Kernow. The English are desperate the colonise and get rid of Celtic nations, they don't like them and seem to always get mad when they're spoken about from my experience. Save our Celtic heritage and culture and don't let foreigners take it from us!
@Konoronn
9 ай бұрын
If you say so.
@foofy14
9 ай бұрын
@@Konoronn well yes, as somebody who is an ethnic Cornishman who's seen what's happening and spoke to various Cornish historians, I think I'm going to have a good idea of what's happening in my own land. Kernow rag an Kernewek.
@user-cj4xo6vp4t
9 ай бұрын
@@foofy14 Your patch of land is as amusing as it is pathetic, evoking the cowardice and deceit of King Mark of Arthurian legend and beach goers having fun. A good tourist spot for English tourists and retirees who already make up the majority of the population, I'll give it that. Your adopted, scarcely used tongue merely exists to add to the fairy tale immersion for people visiting on holiday, like elvish is to the LoTR. It gives me a good chuckle, seeing our celtic neighbours desperately cling onto their dying language instead of embracing the superior one next door.
YR WYDDFA 💪
Fight to protect your heritage!
I think there is a great power in names in calling this mountain by its older name it build associations with the welsh identity if your used to seeing welsh names and know how they are supposed to be pronounced they seem less foreign they feel more comfortable and familiar if its named by its English way the opposite is true people become disassociated with the welsh language and it becomes something strange and foreign so yes it matters a lot.
@user-cj4xo6vp4t
Жыл бұрын
I think it's powerful to stamp out the welsh language and call a mountain by its anglo name which in turn makes it even more familiar, instead of what you're suggesting. Hope this helps!
Beautiful video, I'm English, but love the Welsh language and culture.
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
6:57 what town is this?
@TieranFreedman
9 күн бұрын
Dolgellau in North Wales 🏴🏴🏴
@JohnnyYounitas
9 күн бұрын
@@TieranFreedman Its really cool looking
Thank god we survived henry the 8th
Yes Cymru, Yes Kernow
Diolch Tieran!
I’d much prefer Swansea to be called Abertawe! I’m with John on this!
@WelahMan
9 ай бұрын
You know why they called it Swansea?
@ianhall702
9 ай бұрын
@@WelahMan yep
Yes the Welsh should use thier names for places. The growth in the use of Welsh is a great thing. However in the English language the names are different just ad the Welsh for Chester is Caer Liverpool is Lerpwl and England is Lloegr. Also a large number of Welsh particularly in the south don't speak Welsh
The efforts to erase Welsh, Gaelic, Cornish, and Manx have been England's arrogant notion that these languages and people are inferior.
@deadmoney5580
Жыл бұрын
I don't they deem those peoples inferior, I think they just want a more homogenized , globalist nation . English dialects (yorkshire, cumbrian etc) and regional accents have also been either completely erased, or are dying out.
@user-cj4xo6vp4t
Жыл бұрын
It is hardly arrogant to treat inferior languages like welsh as the dirt that they are and to attempt to clean it up which unfortunately is an on-going process until they finally die out.
@allisonshaw9341
Жыл бұрын
@@user-cj4xo6vp4t English is hardly superior to Welsh, Gaelic, Manx, or Cornish. In fact, it is considered a bastardized language because it evolved from so many different languages, has conflicting rules of grammar and spelling, and is confusing because of that.
@marcwilliams2929
Жыл бұрын
@@user-cj4xo6vp4t atleast welsh isn't a hybrid of many, many languages
@user-cj4xo6vp4t
Жыл бұрын
@@marcwilliams2929 At least English isn't one of the many, many languages that will go extinct and be superseded.
Kembrek Bys Vykken! From your Cornish brethren!
It seems the people of Cymru are more embracing of their language than the other celtic language groups. Pity. May we all (is Éireannach me) learn a lesson from our cousins. ❤️
Wales has its own government in charge of education and yet in 11 years between the last two censuses, the overall number of Welsh speakers has reduced and less people are speaking Welsh every day. This must be a matter of choice. Perhaps the most important thing is to ask monoglot Welsh why they don’t want to learn Welsh, despite Welsh government encouragement. Maybe they prefer to learn Spanish for their holidays?
By rights, all us "English speakers" should all be speaking Welsh rather than this mongrel language, which ironically was also forced upon the native people of this island. My ancestors were Saxon, so they would have, in part, done said forcing, which I'm far from proud of.
Fight the assimilation, save human diversity.
If they are going to be referred to in English, why is the direct translation of the Welsh name not used?
English a Scandinavian-West Germanic tongue first spoken in Denmark and Northern Germany by early Nordic peoples was brought over by immigrant refugees fleeing the Hunnish invasions on the continent. Their Teutonic tongue more closely related to Icelandic, Dutch and Norwegian than to any Celtic language living or dead was imposed on native Brythonic and Pictish speakers over a thousand years without any respect for the culture and speech of the people who had inhabited the island for thousands of years. It is often said that there were Germanic tribes already in England like the Belgae and that Angles, Saxons and Frisians had been on the coast of England and Scotland for hundreds of years before the rest of the population uprooted themselves to resettle o the British isles. Thus it wasn’t until the 5th century AD that the Angles mass emigrated to England emptying the Jutish peninsula of its original population. Even today Schleswig-Holstein the native continental. The ability of Anglo Saxondom to exterminate other cultures in its pathway has been relentless and unless active measures are taken to revive and maintain the UKs indigenous tongues, this imposed Germanic tongue will continue to tread mercilessly on everything in in its path.
Yes I agree Yr Wyddfa is it's name, Snowdon is just an English translation like every where else in this country it should be called by it's name not by it's English translation i would like to see every house , street , village ,valley ,town , mountain , river , city , county , should be called by it's name not by it's translation you would not expect this in Germany , Italy or France so why Wales
@thostaylor
11 ай бұрын
Erm... All houses, streets, villages, vallies, towns, mountains, rivers, cities and counties in Germany, Italy and France are known by their German, Italian and French names respectively, not the names in the local language.
I don't think that Welsh language placenames should be replaced by English ones at all, however, if old English placenames have existed for 100s of years for parts of Wales, such as "Snowdon", then I don't see why those old English names should be replaced because they have a similar level of history and culture
@TieranFreedman
Жыл бұрын
Definitely a valid point that just because something has an English name doesn't mean it isn't part of history. Personally, though, when it comes to Snowdon or Yr Wyddfa, the original Welsh name carries with it far more folklore than "Snowdon", which simply translates to "Snow hill". So I would argue that reverting the name to Yr Wyddfa preserves Welsh heritage, and doesn't really sacrifice any English heritage, especially considering the mountain is not in England.
@Fenditokesdialect
Жыл бұрын
@@TieranFreedman I agree for its use in Welsh, in the same way as in German "Germany" is "Deutschland" but not to use the Welsh word in English. To me it shows language favouritism rather than equality. You see it as well with Welsh being pushed as "the" native language of Wales, and despite the fact that historically for the vast majority of the country that's true, in some areas such as Mumbles, the Gower peninsula and South Pembrokeshire, the native language is made up of broad English dialects closely related to those of the West Country, yet those are hardly given any attention whatsoever. In those areas the placenames are traditionally English in origin, would you change them to their Welsh names there too?
@skathwoelya2935
Жыл бұрын
@@Fenditokesdialect Would you mind if I answered this? I would say the English dialects you mention are encroachment enough. The people who use these dialects would no doubt go on using them and that's fine (it is theirs after all). That said, Wales should officially always be Welsh. The Welsh language should reflect this as the first and official language within Wales. If we let a juggernaut of a language like English chip away at the edges of, it will decline and die. It's about controlling the direction of travel.
@Fenditokesdialect
Жыл бұрын
@@skathwoelya2935 you're ignorant of just how different these dialects are to standard English, they've been spoken there for much longer than standard English has been used in Wales. They're just as much a part of Wales's linguistic heritage as Welsh and its dialects and they're dying out. What you're saying is exactly the kind of favouritism I was talking of, I wasn't saying that they should be used and promoted outside of their native regions as a second national language or anything, just that they should be conserved in their native areas.
@wildboar173
Жыл бұрын
@@Fenditokesdialect In my eyes, English - no matter the dialect - is not endangered, and is inherently foreign to Wales. No one is demanding people stop speaking it by recognizing + teaching Welsh as the mother language of the country.
Welsh should be the only official language of Wales. You need radical policies to protect a language and make it widely spoken.