Byn Walters, Tavarn Ty Elise; incorporating Byn's Photos, Patrimoine Breton

St. David's Day at the Millennium Centre

2012-01-28T02:52:00.001+01:00

Those fortunate enough to get tickets for the St. David's day celebrations at the Millennium Centre will be able to listen to the works of that great Welshman, David Ivor Davies, better known to us all as Ivor Novello, that most 'English' of matinee idols. I must be missing something! His best known works were: 'Keep the Home Fires Burning'; 'We'll gather Lilacs'; and 'Rose of England'; he learned to sing 'Abide With Me' when only 6 years old. He should be praised, and I've just learned that he has a statue outside the place, but don't debase our patron saint's day which is a specifically Welsh occasion, something that he turned his back on at a very early age. I must say that I am very disappointed that our national day should be desecrated in this manner. Try as I may I cannot relate Ivor Novello to Dewi Sant, Wales & Welshness for that is what we are supposed to be celebrating, it's not enough to have been born on a street in Cardiff even if his music will be played on the harp, it has nothing to do with Wales and I doubt very much whether Wales was on his mind when he wrote it. A most unspecifically Welsh Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant I could possibly imagine unless they were to read out the complete poetic works of HRH Prince Charles.

Stolen not Borrowed

2012-01-23T23:37:00.001+01:00

I just wrote this to the Mail in response to an arrogant Englishman: What the English need is a language of their own to go with a parliament of their own. The language in common usage now is one big steal, the greatest robbery on earth. 'Borrowed' the term forever used is a misnomer if not a downright lie, things borrowed are loaned to be given back, if Oxford or Chambers were to return their words it would shut up arrogant mouthings due to the new found poverty thus engendered. Not having the ability to create a language of their own they scoured the earth, built up a foreign vocabulary, put it all into a dictionary and stuck the word 'English' on the front cover, nothing to boast about, and the reason it's in universal use has more to do with the U.S. of A than to the old country.

British

2012-01-16T23:36:00.001+01:00

The Franks invaded Gaul and renamed it France therefore Gaul no longer exists. The fact that Britain exists is because when the Angles, Saxons etc., invaded Britain, the part they conquered became England, the unconquered British remained behind the frontiers on the western & northern fringes patiently waiting for centuries to retrieve our birthright, some say the old prophesies were realized by the enthronement of Henry Vll; in the meantime the Old North; the Britain of Glasgow, Edinburgh & Carlisle had fallen into foreign hands. It was written in the 6th century by the bard Taliesin that the destiny of the Britons was to be the preservation of our language but the loss of all our lands except Wild Wales. It sickens me today to see large chunks of our country treating our ancient tongue as though it is a foreign interloper imposing itself on the native Welsh people trampling over their rights, when the opposite is patently the case. Centuries upon centuries of propaganda is taking its toll so that Cymraeg/Welsh, like someone on his knees, hands cuffed behind his back, being punched & kicked whilst gasping for breath with his head intermittently pushed under water, is accused of aggression and ordered to stop retaliating. My point being that the British are still alive in their homeland to the west of Offa's Dyke, and any other use of the name is a misappropriation.

Ideas Above Our Station

2012-01-16T19:23:00.003+01:00

Ralph Vaughan Williams's grandfather John came from Sir Gâr, the name gives a clue to his Welshness, but you wouldn't have known it from the programme last night; he typified Englishness, his music, especially 'The Lark Rises' was an English masterpiece, the gardens were English, the weather was English, there was even an English fleet, it would have been a step too far if they'd claimed an English god, but I'm sure they thought it. We can hold on to the word 'British', they don't need it when 'English' covers everything. To an English mind 'English' means 'British' (in Spielbergs' new film the English declare war) except where it is 'Ancient British' and that's us, still alive and kicking. Which brings me to something else: a country that doesn't exist in anyone's mind outside its own population whose only 'justification' to exist is having a seat on FIFA and the IRB has global solidarity groups assisting real countries with seats in the United Nations. Are we punching above our weight or do we have ideas above our station? When a packet or delegation arrives from Wales they must be rushing to their maps, seeing that they are coming from England and wondering how a people who can't stand on their own two feet consider themselves qualified to help the rest of the world. The trouble is with putting ourselves above others on an international pedestal it shows we have an independence of mind in a dream world far fetched from the realities that can only come to fruition when we wake up to eventually decide things for ourselves, not as isolated charity groups but as a nation with its own legislative parliament.

Social Evolution

2012-01-15T04:20:00.002+01:00

Just read a story of an American lightweight boxer who fought in 1916 against the legendary Freddie Welsh, real name Frederick Thomas but born in Wales, who had his car pinched, it brought back to mind something that happened to me a few years ago. Brittany has calmed down now and pubs are closing here same as everywhere else, but when I arrived there were six or seven bars to each village, not counting the clandestine ones in certain isolated homes with a bottle on the table inside the door and the money going into the table drawer; twenty something establishments in the small towns and nearly every village had a night-club, with six in my nearest town of Karaez/Carhaix. I'd close the bar at 1 o'clock in the morning and go down there to relax, of course it wasn't always possible, one day I was hit over the head with a bottle of kronenbourg as I was standing at the bar and only woke up with the blows of the kicks into my ribs touching a nerve; I got to my feet, started punching the person who was responsible, then I was grabbed hold of by the bouncers who asked me to leave, they having missed the source of the conflict, anyway by the time I'd gotten outside the keys to my car were missing and I caught a lift home with the newspaper deliveryman who went from village to village in my direction, be that as it may however, that is not my story; as I was saying, I went for a few pints after work to a little nightclub near the canal in Karaez/Carhaix and when I decided I'd wound down enough I left to get my car in the car park, after a good look around I decided it wasn't there, went back in and mentioned it to a friend at the bar who asked me to describe it, after which he discreetly went to see someone; about a half an hour later I was approached by another person offering me back my car keys; "sorry Byn I wasn't to know it was yours." I was relieved to get my car back but angry it had been stolen, which didn't help the situation, because he was angry that I was angry because he had done me a favour in chasing after his friends to get it back and I wasn't showing any gratitude seeing as they had stolen it in the first place, we both let it drop and I drove home to bed. In those days, 30 to 35 years ago it was like the 'Wild West', we never saw the police, especially during the big holiday feasts like Christmas & New Year. Another time in another night club in Karaez I had a gun pulled on me, I tried to imagine how some Hollywood hero would react but put it out of my mind until the situation diffused itself. All of the clubs are now closed except for one that re-opened later to a different climate. The Breton culture is the fest-noz, never any trouble there but this is the countryside, with the restrictions and the necessity to drive it's no longer guaranteed to fill the coffers of a local charity by organizing a function on a saturday night and dancing and drinking right through to the early hours; we used to be many leaving at 5am, now there's no more catering for after 2.

Welsh & British (but not in the way you mean it)

2012-01-12T13:58:00.001+01:00

The British army under Riothamus (who may have been Arthur) fought against the Germanic hordes of Visigoths on the continent in the 5th century; in Britain itself it won a great battle at Mynydd Baddon thereby preventing the German tribes from advancing deeper into Britain, the victory even caused many of the English to move back to Germany. Since a child I have always associated 'British' with the Cymry and 'English' with the Anglo-Saxons. The Angle invaders of Britain in the east & north east, and their Germanic Saxon brethren in the south united to form England not Britain in the exact same way that the Franks invaded Gaul to create France. The Norman & Anjevin Plantagenet Kings re-aligned themselves to British history so well that the Plantagenet branches of Lancaster & York fusioned conveniently (after the fact of battle admittedly) into the British/Welsh family of Tudors who had every right to speak of Britain, unfortunately or not the 'British' lost the throne to the Scottish Stuarts and all Welsh/British insignia went down the plughole, the dragon was ousted by the lion. In 1707 the Scots united with the English to create the new United Kingdom of Great Britain; it did not stop the Welsh from being British, but it did falsely brand the new state of no consequence as yet with an old name representing an ancient, proud & honourable line that will return to us with independence. Caradog; Buddug; Cunedda; Riothamus; Arthur; Maelgwn; Hywel; Rhodri; Gruffudd; Llywelyns; Owains; Henry - Great Britons all. To summarise: there is the usurpation of 1707 that will come to an end with the break up of the union, then there is the historical Welsh lineage which will continue long after said break-up. I have to explain constantly that it's alright to call me British but that I am not English, very few understand, but with my being a Cymro it has a deeper historical perspective, doubly significant, and before anyone says that's all very well but we are Brythons/Britons or Prydeinwyr, the Greek transliteration of almost 3000 years ago included the word 'British'.

Petition

2012-01-11T16:51:00.002+01:00

<a href="http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/campaign-to-name-the-a470-cymru-prif-ffordd-tywysog-ow.html">Campaign To Name The A470 Cymru 'Prif Ffordd Tywysog Owain Glyndŵr Petition | GoPetition</a>

Tolerance

2012-01-02T19:20:00.001+01:00

@John: Racist brush tarrings have no place on any of my sites. I have been spat at more than once, on neither occasion was it by a muslim. 120 years ago Merthyr was a Welsh speaking town, it wasn't Sharia law that turned us into English speakers, and it wasn't Muslims who forced the Bretons to speak French. Being spat at when passing in front of a mosque on a friday however would be a perturbing experience, especially for young women, and I sympathize, but it cannot be blamed on the whole Muslim world. There are idiots everywhere, there are also Christian & Jewish extremists as well as Muslim ones. I cannot speak of situations beyond my horizons, but no-one is obliging me to speak Arabic or Turkish when I go to the local post office. Multi-cultures have a lot to offer, but integration is the key to understanding, and tolerance on both sides is the key to integration. Who's complaining that curries have ousted fish & chips? Move on, nothing stays the same no matter how much we want it to. Throw a pebble into the pond it makes ripples, throw more pebbles and they make more ripples, no matter how many pebbles, no matter how many ripples, those pebbles are in that pond, you won't get rid of them because they've become part of it, but the ripples disappear and the pond finally settles. With unemployment as high as it is; with debt escalating; the numbers of homeless increasing; being governed by isolationist English Tory millionaires; and with worse to come for who knows how long, we have other things to worry about.

The Night that Duty Called

2012-01-01T15:44:00.002+01:00

A good pub landlord has many duties and many faces, each that works to the good of the pub: philosoper; psychologist; psychiatrist even; it entails being a sympathetic listener & neutral adviser; rendering service including offering a shoulder to cry on, which leads me to a little story that could be a mite embarrassing; one winter's evening I was alone at the bar enjoying the full warmth of the well built up wood fire in the large chimney when in walked a very close female friend; I poured her a drink and we sat down for a chat, she began to cry as she explained to me how she was having trouble with her husband, that she thought he was mad, she caught hold of me, started to undo my trouser buttons before letting my trousers slide to my feet, I thought it better to lock the door at this moment, she sat on the table, slipped off her knickers, displaced a certain feminine encumbrance before drawing my naked lower body towards her waiting vagina, conveniently for me her position on the table was perfect penis height; after satisfaction was mutually reached and my duty was done she retrieved her clothing, said goodnight and departed into the cold night air; not long after she got a divorce and left the area.

Death in the Middle of the Night

2012-01-01T12:13:00.001+01:00

There was a death in the middle of the night with an instant funeral; it didn't come as a shock, there was no illness to speak of although there was evident weakness towards the end and we had a long time to prepare for it with people up all night drinking to the passing of an old friend. The situation couldn't have gone on any longer so the end when it came was merciful; there was a good sending off as we all said our goodbyes to 2011.

Welsh Magic

2011-12-31T12:13:00.002+01:00

I've made a point of having the best quality drinks possible in my pub and I've always enjoyed a good beer, I was ecstatic when two boys came to me with their idea of building a brewery at Morlaix in the Breton desert which became 'Coreff', but my drinking's been in public, the beer was the key to savouring the ambiance; I've never been in a home sitution where I can play some music or switch on the television or radio, make myself comfortable, put on my slippers, slowly & methodically pour out a beer, raising the glass containg the magic potion to my lips savouring it for what it is, tasting and appreciating the ensemble of ingredients, mainly hops & malted barley that the alchemist has successfully mixed together, until relatively recently. Three or four times a year my friend of long standing, Gareth Westacott from Tredegar, gets off the ferry in Roscoff and heads for Liliane Madec's home in Kemper, he's developing a pleasing habit of calling in on the way down with a selection of Welsh artisanal beers, and that's what happened this morning. I had the pleasant surprise of waking up to see Gareth & Liliane standing there; they've just left but not before leaving behind 'Felinfoel Double Dragon', 'Tomos Watkin's Cwrw Hâf, and 'Cwrw Gwlêdd - Bragdy Conwy. Now I can look forward to the new year, not in dance or feast, but with some of the best beers that Cymru has to offer, consciously and deliberately savouring their respective seemingly magical blends.

Looking Back

2011-12-29T18:44:00.000+01:00

Delusion

2011-12-29T17:56:00.001+01:00

Don't let us fool ouselves: Cymru/Wales; Kernow/Cornwall; and Breizh/Brittany are respectively living remnants of the Brythonic Celtic kingdoms that couldn't come together, a people without a state, one of whom is perhaps the only self-styled nation in the world whose nationality is defined by its sports associations. As Edward Vlll famously once said "something must be done"; as someone else said "you can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." I beg to differ; dress a Welshman in red, give him a ticket to a match and he's easily deluded into believing that he's supporting his country. Naivety is not latin it's Welsh.

Existence

2011-12-29T17:13:00.001+01:00

Wales exists because the English exist, in a similar but opposite way that there is a devil because there is a god; we would never have been called 'Welsh' if we hadn't been invaded by German speakers.

(1) Byn Walters

2011-12-29T08:59:00.000+01:00

(1) Byn Walters

Cymru/Wales

2011-12-28T00:01:00.001+01:00

Just wrote this in response to the suggestion that basically 'Wales' as a concept didn't exist until Victorian times. The Welsh border was always defined by others. Before the Romans we had tribal groups, after them - kingdoms. The Welsh lived to the west of the Germanics with a boundary that decreased as they expanded, our border moved as they moved. By the 8th century the Mercians had successfully interned us, no more wars in Northumbria, we were shut in behind Offa's Dyke, the front door closed on our fraternal Britons, barring the roads to Strathclyde, Cornwall & Brittany. From then on to all intents and purposes Gwynedd; Deheubarth; Powys; Glamorgan & Gwent made up Wales, the land of the Welsh, with each kingdom vying for overall control. Interesting to note that a chronicle of 1043 notes that a king of Glamorgan died in his old age, whilst between 949 & 1066 at least 35 Welsh rulers died by violence. In the 11th century we were finally united by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, "the shield & defender of the Welsh", our last 'High King' and the first to reach into "every corner of Wales", as per usual he was killed by his fellow countrymen, in 1O63 fighting against Harold the Saxon, who was himself to be killed 3 years later by the Norman William the Bastard. Wales existed and Castles were built on an acknowledged frontier. Under William ll (Rufus) barons were allowed to scavenge, to build castles, settle and to make their own laws, so that for 100s of years Cymru/Wales had two legal systems: one of the Norman Marcher Lords, where the kings writ could not be served, another, the Welsh laws of the princes of an independent Wales or 'Pura Wallia', but also of the native lords of the hills & valleys of Glamorgan & Gwent; this all came to an end when Henry Vlll paradoxically redrew the border whilst getting rid of the country by subsuming it into England in 1534-36.

Boxing Day Thoughts

2011-12-26T17:31:00.001+01:00

On the 'aube' of Christmas day I looked around youtube for seasonal music in Breton & Welsh; it was easy to get results for 'Nadolig' but not so easy for 'Nedelig' which is the Breton equivalent; My time was wasted looking for what wasn't there, until I remembered that Elise doesn't say Nedeleg, she says what sounds like Nool, which I thought was a joke, but on looking around a bit more I became successful when latching on to 'Nouel' and J. F Kemener.
I've mentioned this topic before, but today I went to the village square and passed by newly erected signs all monolingually French; the population has been force fed the language of Paris so that everyone speaking it and not eveyone speaking Breton anymore has become the excuse, even though bi-lingual signs would have been financed. We have seen last week in Gwengamp that there is a movement in Brittany to save French and ban Breton, if that's not standing the situation on its head...!!!
I should be back behind the bar in roughly about 5 months, but every time I mention a figure it goes farther away. It crosses my mind that the longer time goes by the more chance there is of certain of my bad customers moving away, such as: the girl who stole from me; the neighbours who can't tell the difference between being blind drunk and convivially merry; the drunks that come in from my brother-in-law's because his attitude is that he is employed as a barman which is not a policeman by another name, therefore it's not for him to do their job for them; I don't want to see the no longer a youth who stole my car 3 times in the same week, nor the anarchist who spat at me. My key word is 'conviviality', and my motto is 'positive atmosphere accepted, negative atmosphere rejected.' There haven't been many 'negative atmospheres in 30 years, and when you've got the customers I have it's a joy, pity about the imbeciles who can take over when it's quiet, who have no idea of traditional pub mentality, chatting over a pint of real ale and/or a measure of good whisk(e)y whilst absorbing the best music I have to offer. It's time to get back to work; my photos have flopped as I've no money for petrol or car insurance.

The Parasitic Port of Cardiff as seen by One who knew the Proud Slag Tips of Merthyr

2011-12-24T04:31:00.000+01:00

Outside my own home in Penydarren the place I spent most of my time as a youth was Trevethick (sic) St., it was a long uphill cul-de-sac just up from Merthyr town centre off the road to Pen-y-darren, at the top of which, next to the Traction Yard & Morlais coaches could be seen the remnants of the old Penydarren Ironworks where the chains for Telford's suspension bridge to Ynys Môn/Anglesey were manufactured, and where Richard Trevithick's first ever steam locomotive in the world ran on rails in 1804. The last of Merthyr's 4 huge ironworks to be built and the first to close, two of them, Cyfarthfa & Dowlais respectively becoming the largest in the world where Nelson got his cannons & the world its rails, the fourth being Plymouth. Merthyr was the Iron capital, Swansea was the Copper metropolis, whilst Cardiff's insatiable appetite made a little village previously noted only for its castle, fat, wealthy & selfish, still as selfish as ever constantly gorging itself on everything it can get its hands on while the rest of Cymru/Wales looks on in disproportionate poverty, the wealth dissipated; it even took upon itself in 1955 to beg the London government that it be declared the capital of the country, without reference to the Welsh people; obviously an administrative error, it should have been chief town of Glamorgan, but to its inhabitants Glamorgan, and its surrounding areas, = Cymru/Wales, other lesser parts, particularly the north don't count; see cricket & to a lesser extent rugby. It began hoarding collections and building institutions & monuments applying the epithet 'Welsh national' decades before receiving its charter; losing the library to Aberystwyth was a bit of a blow though. However the arrogant foresight of the city elders means that it's now gone too far to have a choice in the matter, therefore we must put up with it, but they need to stop calling themselves the youngest capital in Europe, Wales isn't free; Caerdydd/Cardiff strictly speaking is the administrative centre of Cymru/Wales, headquarters of the regional government, the real honour of youngest capital goes to Bratislava as the capital of the newly independent Slovakia.

Independence

2011-12-20T20:21:00.001+01:00

Ironic for a country that vied with the French, Spanish & Dutch to take possession of the planet, independence was never an English concept before 19th century Napoleon and 20th century Hitler; I could mention the Armada, but as the King of England before Elizabeth l was also the King of Spain it was hardly a defence of the realm; later after Scottish succession the country was handed over to the Dutch followed by a German with no English vocabulary. One can think of the phrase 'an Island race', excuse me! England has never been an island; then there is 'the world as we know it', strange expression for a country that was founded by Germans, ruled by Scandinavians, Norman French and the French Angevin Plantagenet family 'till 1485 when the two warring branches were removed from the throne by a Welshman at the head of an invading Breton & Welsh army, uniting England under Brythonic/Brittonic/British rule; so much for the last invasion of England being 1066. Henry Vll with his Tudor Rose brought new blood to an England finally united by an indigenous British born dynasty even though the country of origin was Cymru/Wales not England.

Welsh Musicians Strike

2011-12-20T02:24:00.001+01:00

In an attempt to bring attention to their predicament, this week from monday to wednesday a number of Welsh musicians are laying down their insruments and closing their voice boxes in a frustrated reaction to the lowering of their broadcasting fees from £150 for a 3 minute song to a fiver, no wonder they are going on strike; not even 19th century ironworkers & coal miners under the thumbs of autocratic owners suffered such an ignominy; although they've asked the BBC to respect their wishes and refrain from playing their music on the air during this brief period, the Bloody, Bastard C**** have made it plain that their sentiments will be ignored. Only to be expected from a London based colonial mindset that is seen to stand for the best that England has to offer the world; unfortunately musicians trying to earn a crust through the medium of Welsh, one of the oldest living languages of Europe, are not English, therefore come in unseen, out of mind under the radar. Pity they are not guitar playing snow leopards, in that case their minority status would lead to an upgrading in value and not be used as an argument against.

Encounters of the Welsh Kind

2011-12-19T22:08:00.000+01:00

Lleuwen sent me a youtube of Ryan & Ronnie; that and 'The Telegramme' looking for the Breton of the year got me thinking how fortunate I've been in my encounters. Before I left Cymru/Wales in 1979 when I was 28, my son's age now, I'd met and chatted to and in most cases drank with (this is off the top of my head): Ryan Davies; John Charles; Carwyn James; Meredith Edwards; Gwynfor Evans; Phil Williams; John Tripp; Eurfyl ap Gwilym; Ffred Francis; Dafydd Iwan; Emrys Roberts; Professor Sir Bernard Knight; Hywel Francis; Hywel Williams; Harri Webb; Glyn James; Cayo Evans; Meic Stevens; Robert Griffiths; John Jenkins; Claude Stanfield; Terry Mahoney; Winifred Ewing; Margaret Bain née Ewing; Philip Madoc; Huw Jones; Elinor Bennett; Dafydd Wigley; Dafydd Elis Thomas; Max Boyce; John Osmond; Hywel Davies; Owen Money; Eddie Thomas; Howard Winstone; Bleddyn Hancock; Phil Richards; Vaughan Roderick; Gareth Meils; Aled Eurig; Gareth Foster; Syd Morgan; and Ray Smith. This may be to you an apparently flagrant exercise in name dropping but for me each name has a context that brings back memories of my early adulthood and a different life, not to mention one that turned on a different axis. In Cymru/Wales my balance was political/cultural/social, here the balance is social/cultural/political, couldn't be anything else really my being a professional barman of 30 years; I've met Alan Stivell; Alan Simon; Dan ar Bras; Glenmor; Youenn Gwernig; les Freres Morvan; Soig Siberil to name but a few iconic Breton musicians who have passed through the portals; plus a small number of regionally active politicians; with one old friend/customer who has successfully made the journey to Paris & Brussels currently employed in Hollande's camp doing his best to oust Sarkozy. Knowing that I'm Welsh he once told me that he liases with Julie Morgan on the European stage, they being in the same Labour/Socialist bloc it's to be expected, but as I consider her Party not to stand up for my country, my politics are defended in Europe by a different Welsh lady whom I once met through Syd Morgan in Mortagne-sur- Gironde and whose name is Jill Evans.

Christmas Party at the Brewery

2011-12-13T00:45:00.001+01:00

Woke up this morning, took a shower, ate breakfast, looked through my wardrobe for a change of clothes, filled Doudou's bowls with food & water, placed them between the first & second doors leaving the front door ajar so she could stay outside or shelter as would be her wont and waited for Paul, a Coreff partner, to take me to the brewery for the Christmas party. Arrived, waited for others to turn up, did a bit of self-service whilst waiting, met old friends, made new acquaintences; food served, sausages & paté, couldn't eat it because of my illnesses, Paul went into town looking for something that I could eat, most shops close on a monday in Brittany, as he rediscovered; he came back with ham from the bone and a packet of vegetables, got it heated, very tasty, back to the bar chatting to everybody, listening to the live music; Paul signalled that perhaps it was time to leave, didn't understand why he wanted to leave so early with that many people still at the bar, arrived home, happened to look at the clock, wasn't early.

Daydreaming

2011-12-11T14:25:00.001+01:00

Bruce was the Norman de Braose; The Stuarts were originally Bretons, which got me thinking, if the Norman/Breton Marcher lords had taken over the Principality as well, our native lordships would possibly have continued living in a Welsh cultural environment under Welsh law, as they were allowed to do for a long time in the uplands of Glamorgan & Gwent; the King's writ could not have been be served (the Marcher lords had their own laws), one of them could perhaps have been elected leader/king of a united Cymru, we would have been living a life similar to that of the Scots with whom we could have allied ourselves, it's then possible that Edward wouldn't have succeeded, or even dared to go against either of the united kingdoms, there wouldn't have been the 'Laws of Wales Act' nor the Act of Union with Scotland, England wouldn't have had the Tudors nor the Stuarts, but it's possible that the 3 countries would have each signed a treaty of co-operation or concordat leading to a loose union of interdependent sovereign countries, the integrity of Ireland would have stayed untouched, perhaps joining with us as the fourth equal partner, fifth if we count Kernow. If someone writes this book or makes a film I claim it as my intellectual property, the rights that go with it, and I want a share of the profits.

French & Germans

2011-12-11T12:07:00.001+01:00

Ironic, all this fuss & fear about the French & Germans interfering in our affairs; they have been trying and succeeding in controlling our affairs in Cymru since Alfred the Great, through William ll Rufus* and Edward l right up to Elizabeth ll of England (Elizabeth l of Scotland), today they are universally known as English, and now I've come to fraternal Brittany only to be run by the French again.
* Rufus's father William l the Bastard wasn't a problem for us, even going on a pilgrimage to Ty Ddewi; he was more of a problem (if a conquest may be referred to as a problem) for the Angles & the Saxons in their nascent united state.

Sat, Dec 3, 2011

2011-12-04T13:03:00.001+01:00

Yesterday morning I was watching a very interesting'Time Team' programme on Ynys Môn but fell asleep, making me mad with myself for missing a quality programme with exciting content. When I woke up I came back to this laptop and turned to the BBC Cymru/Wales Homepage, intrigued by Neil Kinnock's family background I switched on the iPod forgetting that it doesn't broadcast in my area, I then switched on the Ex-pat Shield, watched the recorded emission, asked myself why I did it, pure curiosity, must admit he's not one of my favourite people, too much like the Welsh bourgoisie under the Tudors before him, he got on by leaving the homeland for London setting himself up by making a mint on his political journey (he calls himself a Socialist) except that they weren't hypocritical about it, some, like the Cecils, becoming advisors to the Tudor kings & Queens, including Elizabeth l, their descendants becoming English 'establishment' gentlemen, as will probably Neil's family, sadly for him he didn't quite make it in his failed attempt to become advisor to Queen Elizabeth ll. I then turned to 'Time Team' on the iPod, looked up the list of past series, found the one on Ynys Môn, a really exceptional programme that made up for the one I'd just watched. Next on the agenda: Cymru/Wales v Australia, the awry fairy tale that turned up trumps at the end, the story book ending to a bad story.(But we beat them in the 'sevens).