Tape 1 - Cymdeithas yr Iaith
From the collection of
Ray Gravell talks to David Parry-Jones
- Mynyddygarreg
- 2000
Tape 1 - Cymdeithas yr Iaith
The very essence of life in traditional Welsh communities is unbalanced by market and political forces.
A meeting held by Cymdeithas yr Iaith (Welsh Language Society) and chaired by Helen Prosser (Chair of the Society 1988-89), to discuss issues faced by communities in west Wales (e.g. in Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire), including lack of control by farmers over their own produce, e.g. with regard to export.One speaker, John Howells, draws parallels with issues faced by the mining communities (members of which are in the audience), such as power and political control being centered in London rather than locally, and how the uniqueness of the Welsh communities and their values, as well as their jobs, can be protected against more dominant economic and political forces. Thatcher's emphasis on the individual rather than on society or community is mentioned.Following this, a councillor speaks, quoting the poet T.E. Nicholas ('Niclas y Glais', born 1879), a radical and champion of the disadvantaged in society. A poster on the wall announces the 'Taith Dros Gymunedau Cymreig' (Tour for Welsh Communities).
Tags
Our Language - Ein Hiaith
The Welsh language - Cymraeg - is an endangered tongue that survives against all odds, thanks to multiple campaigns and its daily speakers.
Welsh is one of the oldest languages in Europe, spoken today by over 800,000 people. It has survived attempts to snuff it out, for example with the use in Victorian schools of the infamous 'Welsh not', and is still the butt of many a tired cliché and ignorant jokes.
But it has many less well-known claims to fame - such as the fact that Wales was one of the first countries to create laws using its own language - and in 2020 singer and language campaigner Dafydd Iwan's rousing hit 'Yma o Hyd' (Still Here) reached number one in the UK iTunes chart, and has since been adopted by the Welsh national football team and its 'red wall' of fans as its anthem.
This collection includes works both in and about the Welsh language, the tone varying from serious and sobering to witty and light-hearted. Topics range from speakers' feelings about the state of their mother tongue (we hear from children and young people, writers and artists), to the challenges and frustrations of keeping a fragile language alive in the shadow of a dominant, global one.
14 videos in this collection
1
Ray Gravell talks to David Parry-Jones
2
Meredydd Evans talks to David Parry-Jones
3
John Roberts Williams talks to Gwyn Llewelyn
4
Lwmp o Jaman!
5
Fosia's Story
6
Deg Milltir o'r Ffin
7
Y Wyddor Animeiddiedig
8
Cymdeithas yr Iaith - Part 1
9
Cymdeithas yr Iaith - Part 2
10
Cymdeithas yr Iaith - Dewi Pws yn Ffonio
11
Cymdeithas yr Iaith - Conference and Welsh Office Demo
12
Tape 1 - Cymdeithas yr Iaith
13
UB40
14