I COULDN’T suppress a smile at your eye-catching front page on Friday with the headline “Why King Arthur was really from Scotland...” The reality is that neither Scotland, nor England, nor indeed Wales existed when Arthur rallied the resistance against the Saxon/Sassenach invaders. Indeed the summary of what is known about him clearly confirms this in Niall Robertson’s fascinating article.
As a Welshman now living in Aberdeenshire, having spent most of my life within site of the ancient monument known as Arthur’s Stone on Cefn Bryn in Gower, I feel that the only fair description of Arthur is that of a great Celtic champion: a hero who united the Brythonic Celts – the Cornish, Welsh, Cumbrians and the Gwyr y Gogledd (People of the North) and Picts – against the English foe. Wherever he was born, Arthur would have spoken Welsh and also known Latin, and possibly some Gaelic.
READ MORE: This is how history proves King Arthur was really from Scotland
Might I be so bold as to suggest that modern Scots might even re-appraise the Welsh part of their identity? It was here, after all, in Mannau Gododdin, the Lothian area, that the earliest Welsh poetry was written. The Welsh language, Cymraeg, is part of your heritage too.
A Welsh speaker travelling around Scotland does not merely feel at home. He or she IS at home. From Ecclefechan to Peebles (Y Pebyll) to Strathclyde (Ystrad Clud) over to Caeredin/Dunedin and Linlithgow (Llynllaithcu) the Lowlands are awash with Welsh place names. The same is true in north-east Scotland, formerly Pictland: Buchan, Aberdeen, Brechin, Aberdour and Lhanbryde near Elgin to name just a few Cymric names.
The Gaelic language together with Scots and English must, of course, take pride of place as a national language of modern Scotland. It should not be forgotten, however, that Welsh – or the closely related Pictish – was spoken in all parts of the country, apart from the Highlands and Islands, until well into the Middle Ages. In a spirit of Celtic solidarity, Perhaps now is the time for the Scots to embrace their inner Welshness? Just a thought...
Rhodri Griffiths
Aberdeen
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