Welsh Journals

A Constructive Policy for Wales By T. P. Ellis, M.A., F JR. Hist. S. §9. rPHE problem that lies before the Welsh people to-day, and which that people must JL try to solve, is in some ways new, and yet, save in extent, it is not new. The problem is how to utilize, for the good of Wales and the Welsh people and the promotion of her function among the nations, the alarming infiltration of an element which is foreign to Wales, and which is, in some ways, actively, though, most generally, unintentionally, hostile to Wales. We may learn something again from history. The actual extent of the Roman penetration into Wales we do not yet know nor can we be quite certain how long it endured in an active state. Forts were built and abandoned and re- built, for what reason it is hard to be certain about but some portions at any rate of Roman culture penetrated into the very remotest corners of the land. Welsh names of the period immediately follow- ing are frequently Roman in origin-Emrys, Padarn, Edern, for example and the language to this day is full of words of direct Latin origin, indicating thereby something of the extent of Roman influence. We cannot draw too many conclusions there- from but in so far as we can, especially in conjunction with legend and tradition, it is clear that Wales took her part, like the rest of Britain did, in the glory and the might of Rome. She, moreover, absorbed into herself some- thing of that which Rome had to offer so much so that for centuries the best element of the Welsh people regarded themselves as Romans in a very special sense. Nevertheless, notwith- standing the long duration of contact with Rome, Wales in no way abandoned her own indi- viduality. The Wales of the time was receptive of new ideas and new influences she did not forsake herself, nor did she withdraw herself into herself. She was progressive, and she was con- servative. With the coming of the Norman-French, our vision is a little clearer. The strife between the Welsh and the Norman-French was long and bitter. We see great castles erected to curb the irrepressible we see colonies of Normans, and Bretons, and Saxons (fewer of these than any- thing else) planted in some of the fairest valleys of Wales, as a counterpoise to the Cymric roamers of the hills we see towns set up, like Conway, Carnarvon and Bala, from the burgess- membership of which the Welsh were rigorously excluded. There seems, as we look, to have been a hard and fast, uncrossable, line drawn between the Welsh on the one hand and the Norman- French on the other. In some ways the line seems to have been a tenser one than that between the Welsh and English of to-day, for it was not merely racial and linguistic, but it was economic and political, to say nothing of the contrast in moral and intellectual outlook. But if we look closer, we see quite another side of the picture. We see that what seemed to be uncrossable has actually been crossed we see the Norman families, as time goes on, marrying with and becoming absorbed into the Welsh people, identifying themselves with the Welsh giving to the Welsh people what they had to give -not all of it good by any means-and taking from them in return the great mediaeval inspira- tion that Wales supplied the world with. Men, of whom we need but mention Giraldus Cambrensis, Walter de Map, Geoffrey of Mon- mouth, part Norman in origin, became in heart Welshmen, striving at times for Wales, at times criticising her adversely, even cruelly but nevertheless proud of the Welsh blood that was in them, and helping to send the contribution, which Wales had at the time to give, broadcast throughout the known world. We see the very valleys, which were planted with foreigners with the deliberate intention of suppressing Wales, transformed, in instance after instance, into Welsh valleys, the inhabitants of which, in years to come, were to furnish us with men like William Salesbury. The very castles that were built to extinguish us became ours the foreign boroughs ceased to be foreign, so that a town like Bala became, in later years, the very heart and centre of much that was essentially and distinctively Welsh. Here again the lesson we get is that we have absorbed that which was mightier than ourselves, and we can still absorb, if we will. In absorbing, however, we give and receive. §10. To-day, undoubtedly, the problem seems greater. The last 150 years, thanks to the In- dustrial Revolution, has seen great waves of workmen pouring in from outside into our great industrial areas, especially in Glamorgan, Flint, and Western Denbigh. They seem to have little interest in things that are Welsh, and to a large extent they tend to turn our own people's vision away from themselves elsewhere. (It is not altogether surprising, for Welsh people of all ranks are not taught where to look for in- spiration in themselves). They preach something which is anti-Welsh, that which they call cosmopolitanism or solidarity of the world's proletariat a love of other people based on the fundamental assertion that you must hate your own flesh and blood. The opening up of the country by means of railways and motor traffic has brought into the land also, not merely casual trippers, but many strangers, who have settled down in the land, particularly on our sea-coasts and even in the remotest villages you will find to-day a sprink-