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My
roots are in Wales. I am a first generation American, with
my father coming here at the age of 10 straight from Wales.
My grandparents on my mother's side are from Ireland and Germany.
All Celtic. Growing up, I felt a need to learn calligraphy
and earned a nice living at it for a time. I have found recently
that the Celts were great calligraphers. Maybe it was inborn
My children's father is a Dougherty of the O'Dochartaigh Clan
of Donegal.
Of
all the Celtic peoples of the British Isles, the Welsh remain
the least known among North Americans, for it was the Scots
and the Irish who settled in the Americas in far greater numbers.
And so, the common Gaelic traditions of the Scots and the
Irish are far better known than the Brythonic traditions of
the Welsh and their kinfolk in France, the Bretons of Brittany.
The
Gaels did not come under Roman conquest two thousand years
ago, and so their culture remains closer to the ancient Celts.
But the ancestors of the modern Welsh were conquered by the
Roman Legions, or forced into submissive alliances with them.
Roman
colonists moved into these lands and eventually intermarried
with the Celts. Latin words entered the Celtic speech, and
eventually a new language, Welsh, was created. And a new people
were born.
When
the Roman legions withdrew from Britain, these people took
defense of their land into their own hands. When the Anglo-Saxons
invaded their island, chieftains such as the historical King
Arthur led the defense. But, eventually, the Welsh were forced
to withdraw to the mountains and valleys of the island's fringes.
There, they maintained their independence until the final
English conquests almost 600 years ago.
Today
the Welsh language and Welsh culture survives in part because
of the love of storytelling among the Welsh people. Their
stories, their music, and their traditions maintain the identity
of a people who came into being long, long ago -- when Roman
Legions still guarded the boundaries of an ancient empire.
Celtic
Links
The
World of Celtic Art
Celtic
Art and Illumination
Celtic
Culture (Welsh, Irish, Scottish, Europe)
Celtic Grounds
Celtic
Cross-Stitch
Traditional
Welsh Music
Dougherty
Clan
©Sharon
Hemmerly
2003
Music: The Blackbird
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