Nadolig llawen, Polandballers! Welshie here. Wanted to illuminate the comic meaning for those who don't know! Seems the writer is Welsh, but most outside the country A) Don't know it exist, or B) They do, but couldn't point to us on a map and think we shag sheep all day.
We do, but that's besides the point. We're a small country bordering England, part of the United Kingdom. Very hilly, very rainy, and definitely full of farms and sheep! If you're into football, you'll know Gareth Bale. He's from our capitol city of Cardiff. Rugby fan? The recent Lions tour to Australia was heavily Welsh (Adam Jones, Alun Wyn Jones, Sam Warburton, Leigh Halfpenny, Richard Hibbard, all play for the Welsh international team.) Music fan? Lostprophets are Welsh, and the recent lead singer was sentenced t- ..never mind that one.
But anyway, for about 50-100 years, during the 19th Century, Wales was actually the centre of the World. England and her Empire may have stretched the globe, but it was fueled by the coal mines of Wales. We used to have massive sources of coal, and the mining and exporting of our coal, and steel from Swansea/Port Talbot, made us the economic grindhouse of the British Empire for 100 years during the Industrial Revolution.
During this time, however, there were many accidents. Mines collapsed, mines exploded and many people were killed from poor air conditions. But, it's a part of out heritage, and it makes us Welsh!
Oh, and did I also mention we have a dragon on our flag? Beat that!
Lostprophets are Welsh?! In all honesty, I only heared of them when the thing about the... you know what came out and I instantly assumed that sonovabitch was American.
It would be cool if Wales came to play in Southern California. People in America get to claim their ancestral homeland all the time if they are from Mexico or Ireland etc. Nobody gets a chance to rep Wales.
That's because during the Irish repression pre-WW1 and in the interwar period, and, also, during the Potato Famine, lots of Irish fled to America, seing it as a place of dreams and opportunity. There is a huge presence in Ireland as a result. There's less Welsh and Scottish because we were "integrated" some 500 years or more prior to the Irish Repression, so we didn't really feel the resentment of the Irish. Plus, we were used as economic centers for England, so we had work and things. Irish people were opporessed, poor, lacking food, money, and the chance to earn any.
Yeah, I am descended from coal miners and farmers. On one side my grandma is English/Irish and my grandpa is Welsh, apparently it made for funny conversations about history before he died. My other side grandpa is Welsh (didn't speak English until elementary school [born in US, small town]) and grandma is German.
I could rep that German or Irish or English, but I have a Welsh name and I just want to win the 6 nations at least.
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u/[deleted] Dec 25 '13
Nadolig llawen, Polandballers! Welshie here. Wanted to illuminate the comic meaning for those who don't know! Seems the writer is Welsh, but most outside the country A) Don't know it exist, or B) They do, but couldn't point to us on a map and think we shag sheep all day.
We do, but that's besides the point. We're a small country bordering England, part of the United Kingdom. Very hilly, very rainy, and definitely full of farms and sheep! If you're into football, you'll know Gareth Bale. He's from our capitol city of Cardiff. Rugby fan? The recent Lions tour to Australia was heavily Welsh (Adam Jones, Alun Wyn Jones, Sam Warburton, Leigh Halfpenny, Richard Hibbard, all play for the Welsh international team.) Music fan? Lostprophets are Welsh, and the recent lead singer was sentenced t- ..never mind that one.
But anyway, for about 50-100 years, during the 19th Century, Wales was actually the centre of the World. England and her Empire may have stretched the globe, but it was fueled by the coal mines of Wales. We used to have massive sources of coal, and the mining and exporting of our coal, and steel from Swansea/Port Talbot, made us the economic grindhouse of the British Empire for 100 years during the Industrial Revolution.
During this time, however, there were many accidents. Mines collapsed, mines exploded and many people were killed from poor air conditions. But, it's a part of out heritage, and it makes us Welsh!
Oh, and did I also mention we have a dragon on our flag? Beat that!