The Anti-Welsh Thread

Alexia
Posts: 2999
Joined: Sat 01 Oct, 2005 17.50

Disclaimer: This isn't a thread I expect a lot of people to take notice of, but I expect a few will have some contribution to make. I don't normally do James-Hall-esque rants / spiels, but this is the exception.

I'm getting fed up with general sledging of us Taffs, and the belittling that we must endure. None of it is massively overt, in fact whenever I've crossed the border into England lots of people have the etiquette to respect my choice of self-identifying as Welsh over British or anything else.

I also myself have no problem with the English. My paternal grandmother is an English evacuee, although having lived here for 60 years she could now qualify to play for Wales at rugby, should they ever get that desperate.

The catalyst for this thread has been the following article in, guess where, yup, the Daily Mail.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -hymn.html
Apart from a couple of rent-a-gob quotes from Dickie Bird and Alec Stewart, the article is mostly journalism of the worst kind - wishy washy polemicism that paints a truly historical occasion in the worst possible light.

Worse still, they have confused two completely separate songs. Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau is the official national anthem of Wales, and recently (2006) celebrated its 150th anniversary since it was written. It is not a hymn as it has no religious connotations (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hen_wlad_f ... anslations for more). Calon Lan is indeed a hymn, but is not any sanctioned anthem of Wales. It does however enjoy the honour of being a featured song at Welsh rugby matches, along with Myfanwy, Delilah, Cwm Rhondda, Sospan Fach and As Long As We Beat The English We Don't Care ;) .

As an aside, another glaring error in that article is "British newspapers then dubbed the next tour to Australia a year later as the quest to regain The Ashes." They did no such thing. The English cricket captain of the time, Ivo Bligh, said that exact phrase in an interview. The term "The Ashes" for the test series only caught on 20 years after the Bligh tour and the mock obituary when it was re-popularised by AUSTRALIAN newspapers, and stuck.

Taking all of this aside, one should realise that this was the first test match at Sophia Gardens, and all the pre-match guff was probably a part of the official ceremony to unveil the newest world-class sports venue in south-east Wales in the last 10 years, and not any attempt to instil anthem singing into Test Matches. I doubt very much if any anthems will be played at any of the other Ashes tests, and if they are, I expect them to just be God Save the Queen and Advance Australia Fair.

There has also been a lot of conjecture about Sophia Gardens, and it "jumping the queue" to stage an Ashes test. Mostly this has been people moaning on behalf of Old Trafford or Headingly, which have both benefited from countless test matches over the years. The complaints on behalf of Durham are more than justified, and I do think that the ECB making test venues bid for Ashes tests is a bit off the mark. Nobody in Wales would have wanted Sophia to usurp the Rose Bowl - we would have loved ANY test match. Durham SHOULD feel aggrieved. But that is a matter for the ECB and its own internal politics. Somehow Sophia Gardens seems to have been labelled as an upstart, an out-of-place new boy pushing in on territory it doesn't deserve to be.

Since the superb Millennium Stadium was built for the Rugby World Cup (at a fraction of the cost and in less time than Wembley), we've also had the National Velodrome built here in Newport, a new Cardiff Stadium for football/rugby, and a new Cardiff Athletics Stadium. And now we have a test cricket venue. Out west we also have the Liberty stadium and Parc-Y-Scarlets. From run-down glorified cowfields we now have three out of the four Welsh regions with superb new stadiums, and Rodney Parade (Gwent Dragons) is set to redevelop soon.

I'm sure I'll be able to come up with a few more glaring Cymro-wary words of wisdom from the English commentators over the course of time. I don't think there's a general anti-Welsh sentiment amongst the English populus, but every so often something comes along that makes me think otherwise.

In the meantime I invite our other members for their contributions. Is there anything about the Welsh you particularly dislike or are unimpressed by? Do you think the Welsh are picked on, or are we just a bit thin skinned? Do Cool-Cymru moments like Gavin & Stacey compensate for AA Gill calling us "loquacious, dissemblers, immoral liars, stunted, bigoted, dark, ugly, pugnacious little trolls"?

I thank you for your time and indulgence in reading my post.
User avatar
Pete
Posts: 7589
Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 13.36
Location: Dundee

well tsk @ the mail, but then they do the same all the time, free prescirptions are an example of scottish greed, not an example of the english NHS failing their patients.

anyways why is bill baily taking up most of your avatar? i don't think thats in line with the rules. can this be recified please? thanks
"He has to be larger than bacon"
Alexia
Posts: 2999
Joined: Sat 01 Oct, 2005 17.50

Hymagumba wrote:well tsk @ the mail, but then they do the same all the time, free prescirptions are an example of scottish greed, not an example of the english NHS failing their patients.

anyways why is bill baily taking up most of your avatar? i don't think thats in line with the rules. can this be recified please? thanks
Apologies.... what percentage of the sainted Lord Bailey would be appropriate? :oops:
User avatar
Pete
Posts: 7589
Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 13.36
Location: Dundee

I'd say that you need to be taking up at least 60% of the facial total. Maybe a clever bit of image reshaping would work...
"He has to be larger than bacon"
Alexia
Posts: 2999
Joined: Sat 01 Oct, 2005 17.50

Hymagumba wrote:I'd say that you need to be taking up at least 60% of the facial total. Maybe a clever bit of image reshaping would work...
I may have to get the airbrush out.
User avatar
Ronnie Rowlands
Posts: 956
Joined: Sun 15 Apr, 2007 14.50
Location: North Wales

Although you don't have to bother, because, being the gent that I am, I've only gone and fixed it FOR you, haven't I?

Image
Ronnie is victorious, vivacious in victory like a venomous dog. Vile Republicans cease living while the religious retort with rueful rhetoric. These rank thugs resort to violence and swear revenge.

But Ronnie can punch through steel so they lose anyway.
Alexia
Posts: 2999
Joined: Sat 01 Oct, 2005 17.50

Eugh...it looks like the Elephant Man!

He didn't look like that outside the Palace Theatre, unless I was so drunk I didn't notice....
tvmercia
Posts: 601
Joined: Sat 10 Jan, 2004 03.15
Location: Low Birk Hatt

i don't think that article is particularly anti-welsh. i wonder how well it would go down if sports bosses decided to sing jerusalem before a welsh international. i'd imagine eye-brows would be similarly raised.
Alexia
Posts: 2999
Joined: Sat 01 Oct, 2005 17.50

tvmercia wrote:i don't think that article is particularly anti-welsh. i wonder how well it would go down if sports bosses decided to sing jerusalem before a welsh international. i'd imagine eye-brows would be similarly raised.
Don't forget that the cricket team (which used to feature Robert Croft, Simon Jones etc) represents England and Wales, and that the governing body is the England & Wales Cricket Board. As someone once said, it's a silent W in ECB.

And I think as this was a one-off opening ceremony to unveil a new Welsh sporting arena, I believe the singing of the Welsh anthem was justified. As I said in my previous post, I don't believe any anthems will be sung in any of the other Ashes tests. It was purely a one-off.
walesdestroyedme
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue 18 Aug, 2015 02.17

Well i have just abandoned a house in Wales, mired in debt, my simple ambition of completing my education more or less in tatters. Basic education funding denied and frequent absurd racial abuse from welsh colleagues and customers on account of my English accent. Why hate outsiders so intensely? I thought the anti-english racism was a bit of a myth until I tried to settle there. Im sure you Welsh forum members will be pleased that I will never cross that "border" again. I only hope for some kind if Berlin Wall to be erected, with snipers too.
User avatar
WillPS
Posts: 2456
Joined: Tue 22 Apr, 2008 18.32
Location: Carlton
Contact:

I quite like Wales.
Image
Post Reply