It seems that some of the people of Carmarthen in South West Wales are concerned that their county council wishes to build over 11,000 new homes to "...meet the needs of the projected growth in population...".
Far from being delighted at the prospect of not having to cram everyone into the existing housing stock, there are objectors. And why? Because of the "huge threat" that will be caused to the Welsh Language by "incomers".
Here is what the local Sherriff (I kid you not - that's his title), Alun Lenny, had to say to underline this threat from non-Welsh speakers arriving in their hoards from such exotic places as England and...oh my!...Cardiff!. "Thousands of people live their lives through the medium of Welsh," he told the Grauniad. I suppose it's preferable to living their lives simply through a medium - now that would be weird. He went on, "People use Welsh when they shop, when they worship, when they socialise. Much of civic life is carried out in Welsh. It's not a superficial, quirky element...".
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| Good? |
What the Sherriff fails to understand is that nobody is trying to stop people living through the medium of Welsh. Roosevelt would have summed up this paranoia - they have nothing to fear but fear itself. Welsh has been positively encouraged of late, as has Scottish Gaelic and Breton, across the channel in France, where one can find less forgiving adminsistrations than ours. You only have to drive across the "border" into Wales and there is the evidence - all the road signs and road painting is in both Welsh and English; usually with the Welsh first.
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| Bad? |
Sioned Elin, the local chair of the Welsh Language Campaign wants the whole housing improvement thing scrapped beacause "...no thorough assessments have been made on the impacts of the housing...on the language." Elin seems to fear that the houses will be "...grabbed by commuters from Cheshire and Liverpool."
Just a minute, there, Sioned. Chester is 135 miles from Carmarthen and Liverpool 160 miles. Journey times by car are 3.5 and 4 hours respectively - one way. God knows what they'd be by train via Cardiff, Hereford, Shrewsbury and Wrexham, assuming that the Llandridnod branch line doesn't have an half-hourly shuttle. Who the fuck would want to commute from Carmarthen to Liverpool...without a helicopter?
Along with Sherriff Lenny and Sioned Elin, you just knew that the MEP would wade in, didn't you?. Jill Evans of Plaid Cymru is raising these concerns with the European Parliament and is backing the launch of a movement called Waking the Dragon. I'm sure that various knights have tried that in the past - and got fried. Best not, really.
Apart from some wonky extremists, I don't really think anyone can reasonably object to thousands of people wishing to keep alive a language steeped in history and culture. We have so moved on from the Acts of Union that forced populations to abandon mother tongues and plaid.
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| Indifferent? |
The projected growth in population referred to by the Council is on the back of hoped-for economic growth as well as the increases in human longevity and birth rate. That's just how things pan out in the 21st century. What it's not about is some nasty little plan to infest the area with monoglots who will refuse to embrace the heritage of the Welsh language and see its demise over the next few generations.
I have little sympathy with these Welsh Language activists when they react and behave in this manner in the face of a proposed, positive investment from their Council. They do themselves no favours at all and appear as single-issue campaigners.
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| Doesn't Give Two Twopenny Shits? |
Their cause is not helped by some of the indigenous population's attitudes, either. Where the Welsh language is spoken, either as a first, or a close second, English visitors can often be made subject of a rude, linguistic rebuff. This happened to me at a small town called Bala, where, upon enetering a vibrant little cafe where everyone - and I mean everyone, customers and staff alike, - were speaking English when I arrived. I ordered coffee, in English. Seconds later, everyone continued their conversations in Welsh. This does not help, does it? Where was the "Welcome in the Hillsides" I'd heard all about? The coffee was excellent, as was the toffee cake. To be fair, the young girl behind the counter looked embarrassed - both for me and for her fellow Bala residents who had decided, en masse, to snub me and my miserly invisible income for no other reason (that I could possibly deduce) than I was English or, and maybe this is the nub of it, couldn't speak Welsh or was even prepared to attempt to.
And in Southeast Wales, a charge is made to cross the Severn into Wales, but it's free to leave. What the fuck is that all about?
While doing some (admittedly cursory) research for this post, I landed on a site that professed to supply some translations in English/Welsh. A Welsh website offered some "Welsh Phrases", one of which was: "Twll dîn pob Sais! Down with the English! (literally ‘an arsehole every Englishman’)" I mean...that's really fucking helpful, isn't it? Although it is funny.
I may be in a minority, but I believe that devolution has, largely, worked in the UK. We can all point to the stupidity of some aspects (as I am doing here), but the reactions from these people in Carmarthen and in Denbighshire (another of Jill Evans's causes celebre) will only serve to alienate the Welsh people further. And I would suggest that that's not what the majority of those Welsh people desire. Maybe I'm wrong.
Hwyl am rwan.
I got this from the Welsh Phrases website too. It's supposed to mean "Bye for Now", but I suspect it might transalate as something rude about the English.
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