And right now, I can say that I know what fear is. Real fear to me is living a wage slave for people who cant inspire and are afraid to make decisions. Let me face bullets bombs and deprivation any day of the week. Dim problem.Yes, the real battles for old soldier poets begins when they realise they have survived the bullets bombs and deprivation and that the pension isnt quite enough to cover the debris of the past, and that there is a lot of life yet to live.Thats when you have to become your very own warrior leader poet, stand on that box and give yourself an inspiring oratory!

Hi Harold, Ceri.To lead fighting troops in war, one needs to have the touch of a poet in you (and his maddness), my personal experience and history confirms this 100%.In non threatening situations I can hardly put together anything orally inspiring, but when the shit hits the fan and a bunch o young guys go all quiet and look at you, theres nothing else to do apart from, well deliver a cheesy, almost poetic oratry, and they swallow it. Mind you I could recite the 10x table maybe, delivered with a bit of panache and gusto and it'd calm them right down!!Despite all technology and modern systems of, well, almost everything, ultimately, man moves out of a passion or desperation to survive, or a combination of both.Probably the greatest company commander I ever had, God rest his soul because he committed suicide some years ago now, but that is another story, where he ultimately failed to apply his military leadership to the 'real' world of 'life', anyways he always said'stand on an ammo box, look heroic, look them all in the eye intently and tell them that life without honour is already death, and that it comes soon enough anyway, so have a ball right now and rage hard men, rage hard'Now that, Gentlemen, IS poetry

Good point. Certainly Aneurin and Taliesin were warrior poets.

I might add:I don't think the poet or the bard is necessarily the opposite of the warrior; both are motivated by deep-seated, hot-blooded emotion. However, as history bears out, emotion is easily out maneuvered and defeated by the cold steel of logic. Nevertheless, when the twain become one nothing can stand in its way.

Anti establishment...Nearly half of the signers of the American Declaration of Independence were Welsh or of Welsh descent. Later, the Confederate States rebelled against the United States led by Jefferson Davis--who was also of Welsh Descent.

You are absoloutely correct. Wish someone would remind the pascifist bozos that run the National Eisteddfod of that.Gaz

Same thing in the 19th century. I remember Gwyn Williams pointing out that there were more troops stationed in Wales in the 1830's than in Ireland. Wales has always been turbulent and rebellious. In that decade we witnessed the Merthyr Rising, The Chartist March on Newport and the Rebecca Riots.

I thought the Druids were war-loving peoples? Please correct me, where you see fit.Cheers,Joel

WAS HERE? Even the Holy land didnt even come close. For its area and size of population it was unbeleivable. Modern people with a little knowledge may think it might have been overkill. They'd be wrong. The Anglo Normans were nothing if not efficient with money and why would they waste so much money on these things. They were the super carriers or the space wars programme of their day.The combat indicators are all screaming at us 'bunch of lunatic, murdering savages'. You think the Yanks had trouble in Vietnam, the Russians in Afghanistan and now us.What happened to us?What turned a bunch of ruthless guerilla warrior race into pansies in ridicilous Druid costumes, where academics and poetry spoting songsters mince around shouting 'a oes heddwch?'I just dont want Yanks to get some impression of a tamed bunch of quaint ye oldie worldie race when we are so not.What happened is this in a nutshell DIVIDE AND RULE, the classic Celtic failing, ambition and envy among brother Princes, Norman shrewdness to exploit vanity. Then total oppression. Then after failed risings a fairly succesful one that failed to sustain, follow through and evolve.Then, hey presto, we get an Anglesey boy on the throne of England in 1485. Thats kind of like Obama getting in for African Americans if no one minds me using that analogy.Reformation, wanted by a Tudor saved the language, we ditched Rome easily, cos there was money to be made from church land reclaimation.
updated by @gareth-williams: 12/04/15 03:57:45PM