Wales

Culture

The eisteddfod is a thoroughly Welsh institution that tends to leave the non-Welsh mystified. The word means a gathering of bards, and traditionally the eisteddfod was a contest involving poetry and music. The first was held in 1176, but their popularity dropped off after the 17th century when they raised the ire of the dour nonconformist Protestants. In the 1860s the National Eisteddfod Society was established to revive the old traditions, and there are now three major eisteddfodau as well as several local contests. The Welsh male voice choir is another Welsh institution, associated with the coal mining communities of south Wales. These choirs have their routes in Methodism, and their repertoires are particularly strong on hymns. Although many of the communites which spawned them have turned up their toes, the choirs are hanging in (although some have had to open their doors to women and visitors).

Wales is a nation of nonconformists, so it's not surprising that Protestant nonconformist sects took off in a big way here. Christianity has been in Wales since the 5th century, and during the Reformation Wales became part of the Anglican church. In the 18th century the new industrial working classes proved fertile recruiting ground for various sects, particularly the Baptists, Methodists and Congregationalists. By 1851 80% of the population was nonconformist and in 1920 the Anglican church pulled out of the country. The nonconformists are traditionally rather puritanical, and until recently pubs stayed shut on Sundays. These days, however, only 220,000 Welsh people identify as nonconformists.

The one thing that marks Wales out so distinctly from the rest of Britain is the survival of Welsh as a living language. Despite its weird and seemingly unpronounceable double ls and consecutive consonants, Welsh is an Indo-European language, from a Celtic offshoot. Its closest linguistic cousins are Cornish and Breton. During the Roman occupation, many people became Latin-Welsh bilingual, and Latin's influence on the Welsh language is still apparent. The language was fully developed by the 6th century, and is one of the oldest in Europe. The Industrial Revolution brought an influx of English-speakers into the country, and between 1800 and 1900 the percentage of Welsh speakers dropped from 80% to 50%. These days only 20% of the population, mostly in the northwest and west, speak Welsh. Activists are working to bring the language back to life - it is now legal to speak Welsh in court, several bilingual publications are produced and Welsh S4C (Channel 4 Wales) televises daily Welsh programs. A Welsh Language Board was set up in 1988 and in 1994 the Welsh Language Act - giving Welsh equal validity and making it illegal to discriminate against Welsh-speakers - was introduced.

Welsh food is not particularly well-known, but it does exist. The leek, of course, is the national symbol, but you'll also find laverbread (a mixture of seaweed, oatmeal and bacon served on toast), rarebit (cheese on toast with the added flavour of mustard and beer) and Glamorgan sausages, a meatless delight made from cheese, breadcrumbs, herbs and leek.