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Well, surely one is or one isnt! Its actually far more complicated than that. Being Welsh isnt a simple matter of your parents nationality, the location of your birth, or even where you live at present. Indeed, many nations of the world give the opportunity for citizens of another country to become naturalised citizens of their land and adopt a new nationality - once they go through a considerable number of hoops.
My passport confirms I am a citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. As an aside, I have discovered that since 1983 I am no longer a British subject but a British citizen . Concealed in all that complexity is that fact that qualifying people in Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland all have the status of British citizen and there is no mechanism to become a naturalised citizen of just one of those three nations or one province. This is all beginning to get very complicated and I recommend you take five minutes out to watch The United Kingdom Explained . Its a fun piece but beware of some inaccuracies such as Anglesey, the Isle of Wight and the Scottish islands NOT being part of Great Britain and England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland being sovereign nations with their own Parliaments. Ah, that it were so!
Anyway, I digress. This is all about me being Welsh. Was I born in Wales? No, sadly. I entered this world six weeks after the creation of the National Health Service (Architect: Aneurin Bevan a Welshman) so I was free at the point of delivery which was Battle Hospital, Reading. My father? Born in London to English parents (with Irish and French one generation earlier). My mother, however, was born in Cilfynydd, a coal-mining community in the Rhondda Valley, to proud Welsh parents with many generations of North and South Welsh ancestry.
I loved our visits to South Wales as children and our times with our Welsh family and in the 1980s and early 90s I always felt at home when I travelled in Wales in my role of Wales Liaison Manager for the British Tourist Authority. The tipping point came when our elder son Mark moved to Llanberis in 2002. We visited regularly and both fell in love with North Wales and moved here in January 2007.
I realised almost immediately that for the first time in my life, I felt as if Id truly come home. Some people scoff at the Welsh concept of hiraeth a deep sense of longing for, and connectedness with, the land of Wales to its people and to its history. Hiraeth is probably the most tangible and real explanation I can give for my Welshness as its nothing to do with the more conventional Welsh icons. Its only slightly connected with rugby thats only been the national sport since December 1905 ; it certainly has nothing to do with thick woollen shawls and silly tall hats an invention of Lady Llanover in the 1830s; daffodils only became a Welsh emblem in 1911 courtesy of David Lloyd-George, and the Welsh flag was officially recognised in 1959!
No, Im a Welshman because I know I am. I cry when I sing Calon L n or Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau . Im profoundly moved when I hear Katherine Jenkins, Bryn Terfel or Cerys Matthews. I am joyously transported 1400 years into Celtic history when I sit in Penmon Priory and think of St Seriol and St Cybi in their daily meeting at Llanerchymedd after a 20 mile walk. I long for their connectedness with God and with the land.
Its all summed up in a line from our National Anthem (also found on the edge of Welsh 1 coins) - Pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad - True am I to my country.
Dw i 'n Gymro balch.
Can anyone recommend a good reliable source for Love Spoons?Les Jenkins
Reprinted with permission from David Western's blog , all material 2012, David Western --
A World of Spoons!
Despite all the forecasts of yet another year of economic doom and gloom, my year got off to an excellent start when renowned spoon collector Norman Stevens sent me a box of spoons from his extensive collection for me to study. I've never been fortunate enough to see a Norwegian wedding spoon or a Swiss creme spoon 'in person' before, so the opportunity to handle some of these remarkable pieces has been very inspiring! Several of the spoons in the above picture date from the early part of the 1900's which makes them even more valuable to me as they are links between the hand-craft world of yesteryear and our more machine based modern era. Their elegant, efficient craftsmanship has given me a bit of a schooling in how things were done in the old days and shows me how beautiful the workmanship of many old pieces really was.
The really good news for me among these spoons is the high quality craftsmanship of some of the most recent pieces. A Romanian spoon dated 1999 and a Russian spoon from the latter half of the 20th Century both display exquisite workmanship and design showing clearly that excellent craft is both possible and desired in our busy, ultra-modern world!!
The bad news was the appallingly poor quality Welsh lovespoon (of the 'gift shop' variety) which I could not force myself to include in the above photo!! For me, as a Welsh-born carver, it was simply too embarrassing to show! Honestly, I could have cried when I saw it beside all these elegant and lovely European spoons. Although I understand the commercial gift industry's desire to crank these horrors out at their impossibly low price point to capture the 'impulse purchase' market AND I agree with the arguement that they keep the lovespoon in the public eye; I can't help but feel they are doing the lovespoon a colossal disservice!
Especially in Wales, but also among tourist visitors, there is a growing perception that the clunky, soulless, style-less, dark-stained monstrosities that are being pumped out of factories from Canton, Cardiff to Canton, China are what lovespoons represent and what they should look like. This notion makes me weep!!!!
The spoons I have shown in the above picture are what it IS about...and many of them aren't even 'lovespoons'!!
These spoons are all made with caring, passion, patience and craftsmanship. They are elegant, beautiful and cry out to be handled!! In short, they are lovely... and THAT is the example I always wish to follow when I carve my own lovespoons!!
For those interested, here is the listing for the spoons shown above:
Top left: Swedish spoon with ball in cage circa 1900
Top right: Swiss cream spoon with fretted bird figure on handle circa mid 20th C (?)
Lower extreme left: double bowl Norwegian wedding spoon circa late 1800's to mid 1900's
Middle left: Russian spoon with double horse head crown and chip carving circa 21st C
Middle: Chip carved Romanian spoon carved in 1999
Middle right: Swiss tourist spoon with high relief foliage carving circa 1900
Extreme right: Painted high relief Norwegian spoon circa 1900 (?)
Dai had proposed to Megan and been accepted. "But", added Megan,
before we get married I must tell you something dreadful about my past life."
"No," said Dai, "I won't hear of it. You can tell me after we're married."
After they were married and had set off for their honeymoon in Penarth,
Megan again brought up the subject of her "dreadful secret".
"No," said Dai, "it can wait. Tell me when we're in bed together, that'll be soon enough."
That night as they got into bed Megan declared "Well, Dai, now I really do have to tell you my secret. You see .I'm a virgin."
Dai didn't say a word but put on his clothes and travelled all the way back to his mother's house.
"Dai!" said his mother, "what are you doing here, you're supposed to be on your honeymoon."
"It's no good", said Dai, "I've had to leave Megan; it turns out she's a virgin."
"Well, Dai," said his mother, "in that case you were quite right to come home.
If she's not good enough for the rest of the village she's not good enough for you."
Cardiff massage practice voted best in the UK
City Marshall, established 1998 and located in the heart of Queen Street, has been voted the best Complementary Therapy practice in the UK out of over 10,200 other nominees.
The independent Free Index website has awarded this ranking after receiving over 100 votes with an average score of 94% - http://www.citymarshall.freeindex.co.uk
The owner, Philip Marshall, has travelled the world and spent many years practising in the Far East and studying with Thai and Chinese Masters. Japanese Shiatsu and Thai yoga massage are specialities, alongside Sports Therapy, Reflexology and Aromatherapy.
Philip is proud of his recent award, and claims that each and every client review is a huge motivational boost in these trying economic times.
Many of the Testimonials highlight the Hot Stones treatment which appears to be not only a pampering treat, but also used as a major tool in treating sports injuries, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Osteoarthritis and Sciatica.
Philip said that a recent Cardiff University research within SARTRE has strongly indicated that the use of specific essential oils and aromatherapy can be highly effective in treating chronic inflammations and back pain.
The convenient location, opposite the Parc Thistle Hotel, is surely a huge draw card for both tired city centre shoppers and executive workers alike. Nonetheless, Marshall states clearly that trying to educate the young student undergraduates is his main challenge.
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See http://www.citymarshall.co.uk for detailed information
A message from Peter Luther:-
I'd like to wish all my friends a happy and prosperous 2012.
For those of you who are interested in Honeyman's third outing, I've posted details of my next novel, The Vanity Rooms, on my website www.peterluther.co.uk ,together with the first two chapters of the completed novel.I'm hoping for a launch date in the first half of 2012 but I'll email as soon as I have more news. My apologies that it's taken so long!I very much look forward to meeting up with you during 2012 at either my launch or at a signing. My thanks as always for your support.Warm regards,Peter Luther
It's almost time for new years resolutions so here's mine:-
I will take up long distance running again in 2012.
This will involve a complete lifestyle change. Firstly I will have to stop smoking ( groan ) and that means that i have to stop drinking as well because the two go together for me.
I used to be able to run 13 miles. It will be interesting to see if its possible to get back to that level of fitness and if so, how long it will take.
Have you settled on a new years resolution yet ? If so what impossible task have you set yourself? Post below and review progress in comments over the coming months. Crowd source your will power!!!
I know I'll need help and encouragement with the new fitness regime
Cynan Jones lives near Aberaeron in West Wales. His first book, 'The Long Dry 'was published in June 2006. The novel , which won a Betty Trask Award in 2007 is set on a Mid Wales farm. His second book 'Everything I Found on The beach' is also set in West and North Wales. AmeriCymru spoke to Cynan recently about his novels and his plans for the future.
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C ynan : I find it difficult to be around good things without wanting to try and do something good myself. If I eat amazing food, I want to learn to cook. Reading amazing books probably made me want to write, way back. But in terms of inspiration, I think the question is mostly asked the wrong way round. I didn't get 'inspired to be a writer.' A person is inspired, and they find an outlet for that. Be it chefing, or excellence in sport, or writing. It's driven by a great love of a thing and the consequent desire to want to do it well.
AmeriCymru: Your first book 'After The Factory' is somewhat difficult to find. Care to tell us a little more about it and whether it will become more easily obtainable in the future?
Cynan: 'After the Factory' tells the story of Joseph Napoleon, a factory worker who comes home every night to his basement flat and, while trying to sleep, imagines the characters behind the footsteps that echo across the square outside his room.
It's a short work, but one that readers seem to like very much. It's very different from the two 'Welsh' novels. I'm hoping there will be some news on the 'After the Factory' front soon. I'll keep you posted.
AmeriCymru: In both your subsequent books:- 'Everything I Found on The Beach' and 'The Long Dry' the central characters life and circumstances are revealed through an intimate connection with their surroundings. How important is a sense of 'place' in your writing?
Cynan: A good story should work even when it's lifted out of its setting - I'm talking about the key themes, the big motors of the thing. This is how great 'universal' tales are built, even when they are humble like 'The Old Man and the Sea'. But creating a sense of place is akin to setting the spell, making a world for a reader. It happens that the main characters are very linked to their environments in both these stories so the sense of place is vital. It's the environment I grew up in and am very close to. While I haven't written that intimacy in deliberately, its picked up majorly by readers.
AmeriCymru: You live in West Wales and your books reveal a strong familiarity with the rural lifestyle. What is your background? What did you do before you became a writer?
Cynan: I grew up in West Wales and returned to live here at twenty eight after a stint in Glasgow working as a freelance copywriter. I grew up very close to my grandparents' farm, so spent most of my time there. The farm was small, sixty acres or so. But it had woods, fields and scrubland, and ran right down to a beach. It had an incredible range of places to play. I don't think I ever outgrew that. All I'm doing now really is playing made up games like I did when I was a kid. Just I'm writing things down rather than running round playing them.
Before now I've been a substitute teacher, mentored in a behavioural unit, worked on building sites and as a wine presenter. I've worked in aquariums, and in a kitchen. All sorts. I've done whatever it took to get by without getting tied up in a contract which wouldn't let me drop out to work on a book when I needed to.
AmeriCymru: Care to tell us a little more about The Long Dry . What can readers expect to find? How would you describe the book?
Cynan: The Long Dry is the story of a bad day that gets worse. A calving cow goes missing, and the farmer has to try and find it. He is meanwhile beset by doubts and questions.I wrote it very quickly (in ten days) and immediately knew it was the strongest thing I was capable of at the time. That was back in 2005. It was accepted for publication relatively soon after I wrote it. It went on to win a Society of Authors first novel award, and has been translated into French, Arabic and Italian. It is ostensibly a very simple thing, but people say it's very strong.
AmeriCymru: Everything I Found on The Beach paints a grim picture of life in rural West Wales. How has the area been affected by the current economic hard times?
Cynan: In some ways there hasn't been a major 'boom' here, so we're not as badly affected as those places that grew and swelled with the prior injection of affluence. Statistically, people here earn considerably less than the average wage, and house prices are higher than near anywhere in the UK as compared to earnings, (because of the huge second home market). In terms of jobs, there's not much to do. There's farming, but on small family run farms that are increasingly unfeasible. There's some factory work in relatively small factories. There's a university and hospital in Aberystwyth and lots of seasonal work in tourism related industries. The local authority is a major employer. But the quality of life if good. If you use and appreciate this area, it pays back. You don't need vast amounts to exist. The grim element perhaps comes from the limited choices here.AmeriCymru: How difficult is it for Welsh writers to get published and to succeed these days?
Cynan: It is simply difficult to get published, Welsh or not. (You could even argue it's easier when you're Welsh, particularly writing in Welsh, because of the funding that makes that process possible).
When I decided to write I said to myself: write as strongly as you can, everything else is a side effect. I've stuck by that. However, the key thing now is visibility. Breaking through the London-dominated media wall is difficult, and perhaps they don't take Welsh publishers as seriously as they should. In France and Italy my work had big reviews in major newspapers, with some extraordinary critical acclaim. The next step, as well as continuing to write strongly, is to get that attention on my own turf.
AmeriCymru: What do you read for pleasure? Any recommendations?
Cynan: I read massive amounts. Writers like Steinbeck, McCarthy, Carver and so on are on a different level. Brink, Coetze. Graham Greene, Orwell. The great writers. When you write yourself, the quality of the writing has to be very very high. For something more recent, try 'The Solitude of Thomas Cave' by Georgina Harding.
AmeriCymru: What's next for Cynan Jones? What are you working on currently?
Cynan: There's a new novel on the desk right now. Come the end of January, I'll start work on the final draft. It's called 'Traces of People.'
AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?
Cynan: Keep reading! When you read something you like, tell everyone!
Arfon Williams was born in LLanrwst North Wales and attended Ysgol Glan Clwyd St Asaph,Ysgol Cymraeg from 1972 to 1977. He joined the army in 1977 and served with the Ist Battalion Welsh Guards. In 1985 he joined the Merseyside Police. He has served with the CID and will be retiring in July 2012 . Arfon has written and recorded two albums :- "I Still Dream" which is distributed by ACM Records ,New York and "Time Should Wear A Hat" which is available through all major digital distributors. One of his songs "Solitude" was donated to the Welsh Guards charity album.(Welsh Guards Reunited). AmeriCymru spoke to Arfon about his career and his future plans.
AmeriCymru: When did you first start song writing? What inspired you?
Arfon: I started playing the guitar after purchasing one off a fellow soldier in 1980.Although I am not the best guitarist I managed to play enough chords to start writing songs.I was bought up on the Welsh folk songs of he 70's.Dafydd Iwan ,Tepot Piws etc After the army Paul McCartney tunes inspired me as I could see how songs were being structured.
AmeriCymru: You have played in several bands over the years. Care to tell us a little more about them?
Arfon: By chance colleagues in the Police needed a lead singer for their soul band around xmas 1994,They had heard i could sing a bit as i would often get up on a stool at our rugby club at Hoylake and give them a rendition of Faith by George Michael.The band was a soul band and my first gig on stage was at a caravan site in Rhyl on New Years eve.It felt brilliant!!
AmeriCymru: You have written and recorded two albums. What is the story behind them and where can our readers go to hear/purchase them?
Arfon: The first 'I Still Dream' is mostly love songs ,broken hearts and quite dark although they may appear to be up beat.This is for sale at itunes and most digital sales sites.readers can google 'I Still Dream by Harry Williams .This is signed to ACM records New York..
AmeriCymru: One of your songs "Solitude" was donated to the Welsh Guards charity album.(Welsh Guards Reunited) Can you tell us more about the song and the album?
Arfon: The second album 'Time Should Wear a Hat ' is also sold via the internet.This Album is less dark and features jazz/swing style tunes.'Central Park New York ' seems to be a popular download but 'Solitude' does well for hits also. Solitude was written about Amy Winehouse and her then boyfriend.They had not seen each other for a while and I wondered what either would be thinking whilst waiting in a hotel room alone waiting for the other to arrive.It was very sad that Amy Winehouse left us so young.
AmeriCymru: Your song "In This Town " is featured in the 2007 film "Happy Holidays" by New Jersey film producer James C Ferguson. How did it feel to hear your work played on the 'big screen'?
Arfon: It was the oddest thing hearing 30 seconds of one of my songs in a scene on a film.The tale of how it got there is quite amazing. wrote the song whilst walking up the hill from Dolwyddelan to Blaenau Festiniog in the summer. I wanted to write an upbeat tune and got to thinking about being back in North Wales.and past memories...." When I'm in this town .I think about you .....la la " By the time I walked back to my sisters home I had written it in my head..I told her I needed a pen and quickly wrote down the words....I recorded it in the same week,I sent it off as I have done many of my songs in answer to a request for songs via the 'Bandit Magazine.Within two weeks of writing the song I was emailed asking if it could be used in the film...2 weeks!!...I'd been sending songs off for years..It just happened like that and i was thrilled!
AmeriCymru: One of your songs entitled Baby I Love you is being re mixed by German record company ."Soundofnow" . Any word on a release date?
Arfon: The release date for the first mix is the 12 of January 2012...In the name of 'Erick Maconda' this is the name we have chosen for the act.The mix is by the 'Future polar bears.Two further mixes with full vocals will be released later in the year.
AmeriCymru: What's next for Arfon Williams?
Arfon: I retire from the Police in June and plan to sing full time and do some more writing
AmeriCymru: Any final message for the members and readers of AmeriCymru?
Arfon: Hi All Have a great xmas break and a happy new year.
Arfon: Please feel free to e mail me anytime...about any of the songs and good luck with everyones endevours in 2012....Diolch yn fawr am gwrando.Nadolig Llawen and Blwyddyn Newydd da i chi i gyd.
Arfon
Merry Christmas/Nadolig Llawen to all our members and readers
If you're visiting the site this Christmas dont forget to check out our new dropdown navbar.....like all the best new features on AmeriCymru it ALMOST works
But seriously, you may find a few pages and features that are new to you. For instance did you know that you could upload mp3's to the site and play them in your Jukebox? Or were you aware that all your Likes are stored on a page in your profile for future reference. Which is basically a handy in site bookmarking service. Explore the dropdown menus to discover these features and much, much more.
MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR/NADOLIG LLAWEN A BLWYDDYN NEWYDD DDA
