ioangwil

The issues Wales has with self-identity

It’s St David’s Day, the day of the patron Saint of Wales, therefore Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and all the others will be bombarded with pretty pictures of blooming daffodils, of people smiling proudly with their homemade Welsh cakes and children happily dressed in their Welsh outfits on their way to school.

Image credit - Wales Online

And why not? This is our day. We’re a small and humble nation, we don’t go around boasting about our heritage internationally as much as our Celtic cousins do, we keep ourselves to ourselves, quiet, proud individuals. So when March 1st comes along, it is our time to make a bit of a song and dance about our Welshness, it’s just our one day to remind the globe that we are still here.

The trouble is, and it is especially poignant this year; do we actually know who we are in 2017? Is there such a complex country as ours regarding our self-identity? I am seriously struggling to think of one so fucked up as ours.

The problem with Brexit

Brexit opened a can of worms in Wales, polls before hand showed Wales voting to remain by a slight margin. Results gave us this …

Image credit - BBC

What the hell happened? Now I’m not here to argue if Brexit was right or wrong, it has been done a million times since last June. We are here to discuss the issue of identity. Although proud of our heritage, and portray hatred at times (especially during sporting events) against our English oppressors, there is no doubt that the majority of Wales feels an underlying overwhelming allegiance towards London and especially Westminster.

Who are the people that actually voted for it? It may be that the author lives in Gwynedd, one of the four Welsh counties that voted to remain, that he didn’t heard a lot from the Leavers at the time, but still over 25,000 (41%) voted out so these aren’t classed as the odd individual.

Were they too embarrassed to admit? Or were they the old Welsh nationalist view that it was incomers to the area, the loner English retired couple that voted out? It can’t be.

At the same time, opinion polls suggest that the majority of the population supports more devolved powers for the National Assembly whilst arguing that our elected members don’t do enough for our country!

AND STILL VOTED 7 UKIP MEMBERS IN!! UKIP!?!

It doesn’t seem that voting is our forte.

Stuck in the past

One problem in Wales is our obsession with history. We are a nation who lives in this strange state of mind that history has been cruel to us, from the Treachery of the Blue Books to Tryweryn, all we seem to do is cry about how we have been treated like the little kid in school whose had his sweets nicked off the bigger bully. It is time to grow up and do something about it.

Other people and nations have adapted with time, the Irish went alone, they made it in America, the Celtic Tiger roared over Europe (yes I know they’re fucked now after the banking crisis, but at least they tried!) whilst we wept a nostalgic tear singing ‘Yma o Hyd’ on a busted jukebox drinking 10 pints of over-priced lager in half empty pubs.

The video above produced by Visit Wales as part of the 2017 Year of Legends campaign, although as good as it is, shows what Wales has to offer, nothing apart from a trip back in time. The Welsh Government went for the easy option of yet again trying to force down tales of the Mabinogion for potential international visitors, instead of offering any vibrant new ideas and re-model the image our stale and uninspiring country.

2018 may as well be called the ‘Year of Sheep Shagging’.

The forgotten class

What I find bemusing is the growing class of people that don’t feel a sense of belonging to Wales in hardly any way.

I’m talking about people mainly under 30 who have mid to low education levels and who are actually spread over the country. They have grown up in one of the most confusing times in Welsh history, and have difficulty relating to being Welsh. They would not remember devolution, they have grown up in a paradox world where you should show your undying love whenever Wales play rugby or football internationally, but there are constant reminders that you should remain proud of being British ‘just to stay safe‘.

The future

Today is the day that we can retweet our celebrities in glory because let’s face it, it’s not always ‘cool’ to be Welsh. But it is now time to re-think where do we want to be as a nation and who do we want to be, because at the minute we have no clue who we are. Wales is fucked.

Cymerwch ychydig o'ch munudau prin i wylio'r fidio a cheisio teimlo beth oedd rhaid iddynt aberthu dros eu gwlad. 

Dydi ein problemau ni heddiw, yn ddim ond dropyn o law yn y môr o gymharu, a rhain yn ddynion mor wydn i fod yn mynd i'r fath lefydd. 

Monty

Pryd y deuaist ddiwethaf Sion Dafydd  I rhoi troed ar dir dy wlad? Eistedd yn dy gadair ydwyt Yma'n nhref y Sais a'i brad Tyrd yn nol am adre Sion Dafydd  Ymhell o'r ddinas fawr a'i strach Tyrd yn ol i dref y Porthladd Tyrd yn nol i Gymru fach.

Iw Tom

Pan af am dro i Ben y Cei Gan oglau halltni'r heli Mae curiad yn fy nghalon i Dros ardal a thros Gymru Mae briwsion llechi yn fy ngwaed Ond tra byddai i'n dragywydd Mae mwy na hyn, yn bwysig im Rwy'n fachgen mor a mynydd

Wingnut

Mi wnes i gydweithio ar y priosect yma gyda rhai o blant Ysgol Bro Hedd Wyn, Trawsfynydd.

I mi, mae'r fidio yn ofnadwy o deimladwy o ystyried ystyr geiriau y gerdd gan Hedd Wyn, wrth ei asio a melodi ysgafn 'Arglwydd Dyma Fi'.

Yma cawn ddiniweitrwydd lleisiau'r plant, a fyddai prin flynyddoedd yn ieuengach na'r hogia gafodd eu gyrru i'r rhyfel gan mlynedd yn ôl.

'Ni wnaiff pelltrau eich gyrru yn ango, blant y bryniau glân,

Esi am dro yn ystod fy awr ginio heddiw, a teimlo bod hi dipyn oerach nac arfer, a bod ni'n dechrau troi at dymor y gaeaf, felly nesi sgwennu hwn . . . 

Er fod rhan fwyaf o bobl yn gwybod pwy ydi Hedd Wyn, does na ddim llawer o bobl yn adnabod ei gerddi. Gan fy mod yn gweithio ar stondin Parc Eryri yno, ces gyfle i gerdded y maes yn ffilmio amrywiol bobl yn adrodd y gerdd 'Ein Gwlad'.

Addas iawn gan gysidro lle oeddem ni ar y pryd. Dathlu bwrlwm, hanes a diwylliant ein cenedl, felly pa ffordd well na cynhyrchu fidio am ein gwlad o dan sain annwyl ein hanthem genedlaethol.

Here is a poster I made today.

It's fair to say that I haven't had the easiest of lives in my short time on this earth and usually I would be unwilling to talk about everything in my past, especially in such a public place.

But browsing through some boxing videos during my lunch break, I came by Roy Jones Jr again. 

Following boxing is a passion of mine, I see through the brutality that a lot of people see watching the sport. I see the history of a person, a drive that has got them to where they want to be, a release for some from a life of crime to where they see their names in light.

I also see the dedication and hard work these warriors put in (albeit for a nice payday more often than not), but these men are driven souls, they have something within them that force them to succeed and to better themselves, not only as fighters but as human beings.

Granted boxing does throw out some poor role models every so often, and some get influenced because they are thrown into a world of glitz and glamour as such an early age, that it's almost an alien world to them, such as Mike Tyson.

But if you do have time, take a look at some documentary videos on youtube, for example Aaron Pryor vs Alexis Arguello on HBO. Arguello was a man from Nicaragua that got caught between two factions of the civil war in that country, he was a man of principle, a gentleman, and a fantastic technical boxer, a man that people from the country could look up to as a symbol of hope, a symbol that life could get better. But more important than anything, he did not forget his roots.

Another boxer I admire is Joe Calzaghe, and it is from his build up programme to the fight with Jones that I got the quote on the photo. I don't know why but this quote struck a chord with me, and it still does everytime I come across it. Jones used to be the best boxer in the world, he isn't anymore, but still he carries on.

Dyma olwg sydyn i mewn i fy ngwaith o ddydd i ddydd. Rwyf yn cael fy nghyflogi gan Barc Cenedlaethol Eryri fel rhan o briosect Yr Ysgwrn. Priosect pedair mlynedd ydyw a fydd yn dod i derfyn yn 2017, er mwyn dathlu can mlynedd ers Eisteddfod y Gadair Ddu.

Rwy’n frwdfrydig am y gwaith yma, gan ei fod yn cyffwrdd a phob mathau o destynau sydd yn bwysig i mi. Er enghraifft, mae’r Ysgwrn yn dwy na dim ond cartref i Hedd Wyn, mae’n cyffwrdd a beirdd eraill y cyfnod, a rwy’n hoff iawn o ddarllen barddoniaeth yn enwedig gan feirdd fy mro. Mae hefyd yn cyffwrdd a themau amaethyddiaeth, bywyd cymdeithasol, a’r rhyfel byd cyntaf.

Fel rhan o’m gwaith rwy’n cynhyrchu rhai fidios. Dyma un wnes i gynhyrchu o nai Hedd Wyn, Gerald Williams ar aelwyd Yr Ysgwrn yn darllen ei hoff gerdd ganddo.

Mae cynhyrchu fidios a chlywed swn cerddoriaeth a geiriau yn hobi gen i, teimlaf ei fod yn gelfyddyd artistig modern a hoffwn wella ar fy safon o gynhyrchu pethau tebyg yn y dyfodol.

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Here is a quick insight of my day to day work. I am employed by the Snowdonia National Park as part of Yr Ysgwrn project. It’s a 4 year project that will culminate on the 100 year anniversary of the Black Chair Eisteddfod.

I’m passionate about my job because it touches on a variety of subjects that are of interest to me. It is more than just the home of Hedd Wyn. it compasses work by other poets of the period, and I love reading poetry, especially from bards that are from my area. It also touches on agriculture, social life and World War 1, which are important subjects to me.

As part of my work I produce some videos. This is one i made of Hedd Wyn’s nephew on Yr Ysgwrn’s hearth, reading his favourite poem by him.

Dyma fy mlog cyntaf i, dwi'n hoff iawn o ysgrifennu a chreadigrwydd yn gyffredinol ond byth yn cofio safio dim byd! Felly o hyn ymlaen mi fyddaf yn postio ychydig o fy ngwaith. :)

Islaw y paragraffau yma mae cân wedi ei gyfansoddi gan 'Y Llongau', sef priosect unigol Dyl Mei. Y fi wnaeth ysgrifennu'r geiriau a mi roedd yn gywaith ar gyfer rhaglen BBC Radio Cymru 'Yma wyf finnau i fod'. Cân ydi am dre' Porthmadog a'r harddwch, y natur, yr hanes a'r gwahaniaeth sydd yn y dref rhwng yr hâf a'r gaeaf.

Mae nheimladau i yn llawer cryfach am y dref yn y gaeaf gan mai dyma wyf i'n teimlo yw'r tymor mae'r gwir Borthmadog i'w gweld ymhell i ffwrdd o fwrlwm ymwelwyr yr hâf. Mwynhewch!