- Language and Identity in Modern Wales -
I like to think that this awareness and concern for language is derived from the
Celtic background. It is not without significance that poetry and the delight in words
still playa prominent role in the culture at all levels. The intricate interweaving and
tracery seen on the Celtic crosses have resurfaced in the metrical complexity of the
strict verse. Bards, great and small, are still revered and respected and versifying in
all its alliterative glory is a source of enjoyment. Whatever the case for a Welsh
identity without the language I have to say that anyone who claims to be Welsh is
indebted, knowingly or not, to Canu Aneirin, the Mabinogion, Dafydd ap Gwilym,
Gruffydd Robert of Milan, Bishop Morgan, Goronwy Owen, Pantycelyn, a.M.,
Saunders Lewis and Dafydd Iwan. This heritage is unique and it is the hallmark of a
language and culture clearly and irrevocably identifiable in the modern world with
its increasingly uniform, plastic culture.