Everything about Culture Of Wales totally explained
Though a part of the
United Kingdom and in
union with
England since its military conquest in 1282,
Wales has preserved its own distinctive
culture,
language, customs,
holidays and
music.
Wales is primarily represented by the symbol of the red
Welsh Dragon, but other
national emblems include the
leek and
daffodil. The
Welsh words for leeks (
cennin) and daffodils (
cennin Pedr, lit. "(Saint) Peter's Leeks") are closely related and it's likely that one of the symbols came to be used due to a misunderstanding for the other one, though it's less clear which came first.
National Holidays
The
patron saint of Wales is
Saint David,
Dewi Sant in Welsh.
St. David's Day is celebrated on
1 March, which some people argue should be designated a public holiday in Wales. Other days which have been proposed for national public commemorations are
16 September (the day on which
Owain Glyndŵr's rebellion began) and
11 December (the death of
Llywelyn the Last).
The traditional seasonal festivals in Wales are 1)
Calan Gaeaf (a
Hallowe'en or
Samhain-type holiday on the first day of
winter), 2)
Gwyl Fair y Canhwyllau (literally Mary’s Festival of the Candles, but equivalent to
Candlemas and
Imbolc), 3)
Calan Mai (
May Day, and similar to
Beltane), and 4)
Gathering Day (or
Midsummer, equivalent to
Lughnasa). Additionally, each parish celebrated a
Gŵyl Mabsant in commemoration of its native saint.
Music
Main article: Music of Wales
Wales is often known by the phrase "the Land of Song" (Welsh:
Gwlad y Gân) and its people have a renowned affinity for singing,
poetry and
music.
Perhaps the most well-known musical image of Wales is that of the
choir, in particular the male voice choir (Welsh:
côr meibion). While this is certainly a part (though of greatly diminished importance) of the current musical life of the nation, it's by no means the only or the oldest part, and the choral tradition doesn't really stretch back significantly beyond its heyday in the 19th century.
Much older is the tradition of instrumental
folk music. The
harp has been closely associated with Wales for a very long time, and one kind of harp, the
triple harp is uniquely Welsh. Other specifically Welsh instruments included the
crwth and the
pibgorn, though both fell out of general use by the end of the 18th century. Due to
Nonconformist disapproval, the instrumental folk tradition fell into decline through the 19th and early 20th centuries, but has since seen a revival and is now arguably as strong as ever. The principal instruments are the harp and the
fiddle, but many other instruments are used, and both the crwth and pibgorn are again being played by a small but growing number of people.
Wales also has a long tradition of
folk song which, like the instrumental tradition, and for the same reasons, was long in decline but is now flourishing again. One notable kind of Welsh song is
cerdd dant which, loosely, is an improvised performance following quite strict rules in which poetry is sung to one tune against the accompaniment of (usually) a harp to a different tune.
In the mid- to late 1990s new Welsh music became unexpectedly fashionable, with the chart successes of bands including
Manic Street Preachers,
Catatonia, the
Stereophonics and
The Oppressed. These groups helped the media at the time invent the epithet "Cool Cymru", an answer to
Britpop's "
Cool Britannia". Prior to that, Welsh acts including
The Alarm,
Shakin' Stevens and
Bonnie Tyler had all had high profiles, but there had never been much of a movement.
Around this time, groups such as
Super Furry Animals and
Gorky's Zygotic Mynci rose to popularity, and artists such as
Tom Jones,
John Cale, and
Shirley Bassey had something of a renaissance.
The Welsh music industry is currently in good health, with boundless
creativity from many lesser known groups, and labels such as
Ankstmusik,
Crai, and Boobytrap Records. And, in recent years, a large
alternative and
punk scene has sprung up from the Valleys towns in south Wales, of which
Lostprophets and
Funeral for a Friend have achieved notable international success.
Picture Frame Seduction from
Haverfordwest in
Pembrokeshire,
West Wales created their own disturbing punk sound in 1978, and in 2003 they signed to Grand Theft Audio Records in
Los Angeles,
USA. They were once dubbed the "Welsh
Sex Pistols" due to their attitude towards the music establishment in the UK.
Of late, the Cymraig music scene has seen something of a revival owing to the influence of welsh speaking radio 1 DJ Huw Stevens, with bands like Plant Duw, Genod Droog and Radio Luxembourg. Huw Stevens also coordinated a camden crawl style music festival named Swn (welsh for "noise, pronounced soon) festival. Other recent notable bands in the Cardiff area include Los Campesinos, Picture Books in Winter, Me and the Major, New Art Riot and Future of the Left.
Religion
The largest religion in Wales is
Christianity, with 72% of the population declaring to be
Christian in the 2001 census. The
Presbyterian Church of Wales was for many years the largest denomination and was born out of the
Welsh Methodist revival in the eighteenth century and seceded from the
Church of England in 1811; it had 34,819 members in 2004. The
Church in Wales is now the largest with an average Sunday attendance of 41,500 in 2004. It forms part of the
Anglican Communion, and was also part of the
Church of England, but was disestablished by the British Government under the
Welsh Church Act 1914. The
Roman Catholic Church makes up the next largest denomination at 3% of the population. Non Christian religions are small in Wales, making up less than 2% of the population. 18% of people declare no religion.
Sport
Main article: Sport in Wales
The
national sport of Wales is
rugby union. However, in mid and north Wales
football is more commonly played. Wales has also produced its fair share of sports people in most sporting activities from
boxing to
equestrianism.
Further Information
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