Are the Welsh Celts or Britons?

Question

Are the Welsh Celts or Britons?

Answer 1

The Welsh are from Wales.  

Wales (Welsh: Cymru;[1] pronounced /ˈkəmrɨ/ (help·info)) is a constituent country of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is situated in the west of mainland Britain, with England inland to its east and the Irish Sea and Atlantic Ocean to the west. Wales has a population estimated at three million and is a bilingual country, with English the language spoken by the majority, and Welsh the native tongue.

Originally (and traditionally) one of the six Celtic nations, a distinct Welsh national identity emerged in the early 5th century, after the Roman withdrawal from Britain.[2] The Edwardian conquest in the 13th Century brought about centuries of English occupation, and Wales was eventually annexed to the English legal system with the formation of the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, creating the legal entity known today as England and Wales. Distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century eventually leading to a devolved legislature and government in 1999, with the formation of the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff Bay. Today, Wales continues to share political and legal structures to varying degrees with the United Kingdom, while now maintaining more direct ties with various international bodies[3][4] and the business world.[5][6][7][8] The Assembly Government has also increased its direct links with the European Union, although foreign policy remains the reserved responsibility of the UK Government.[9][10]

The capital Cardiff (Caerdydd), located in the more urbanised South East, is Wales' largest city with 317,500 people.[11]. Cardiff has been a prosperous city since the Victorian era,[clarify] when it was the biggest coal port in the world.[12][13] Two-thirds of the Welsh population lives in the southeast, with another concentration in the northeast.

Wales is known for its divergent and often spectacular landscape,[14] and tourism is popular throughout the land.[15][16] From the late 19th century onwards, Wales acquired its popular image as the "land of song", attributable in part to the revival of the eisteddfod tradition.[17] Historically, the Welsh tradition for storytelling was an oral one, handed-down over the generations. Vocal performers - actors, singers and speakers - are celebrated in Wales today, often attaining international success.[18][19] Wales has in recent years undergone a cultural revival,[citation needed] and the rapidly-developing capital is the home of the largest media center in the UK outside of London.

Wales is sometimes referred to as a Principality. Llywelyn the Great founded the Principality of Wales in 1216, and following the Edwardian Conquest, Owain Glyndŵr briefly restored its independence in the early 15th century. Traditionally the British Royal Family have used the courtesy title 'Prince of Wales' for the Heir Apparent to the reigning monarch.

Siggy

Answer 2

Jim the Fee, here

You hit a spark in me with this question.  I would like to offer

an idea for you to ponder.  The early, very early, inhabitants

of the Geopolitical area called Wales today originally came

from an entirely different land mass.  Here is what happened.

Sometime around 30,000 years ago the last remaining land

mass of the ancient continent of Atlantis finally sunk beneath the waves of the Atlantic ocean.  The cause of this demise

was atomic warfare between the last two dominant peoples

of the Island called Peosideon by the Greeks.  

Several small bands of refugees escaped the final cataclysm.

A number of  sea craft of the Atlanteans finally landed on

the land mass that would later be called the British Isles

(but that was very, very much later).  The language that was

spoken by the Atlaneans was unlike any other root language

that was ever heard among the early barbaric tribes that lived

on the lands.  Another group of survivors found  land fall

on the western land mass which would later be called Spain

and migrated inland into the large mountain range later named the Pyranees.  These were later to be called the

Basque people and their language was not aligned with

any root language on the Iberian peninsula.  Linguist later

discovered that the root words of the dialect of people in

what would be called Wales was very close to the dialect

later spoken by the Basque peoples.

In theory, the two groups of people which inhabited Wales and the Basque country of Spain in late prehistoric times

came from a common source - the lost continent of Atlantis.

How does that sound to you, Asker?

Answer 3

Like the Irish & Scots, they are culturally celtic.

However,also like the Irish & Scots, genetically they are NOT (if you use the traditional idea of a celt as being an invader from middle Europe in approx 500BC)--rather they have a strong genetic similarity to the Basques of Spain,whose ancestors came to the British Isles after the Ice Age. Those who aren't in this particular genetic clan are normally found to be descended from several different waves of migrating neolithic farmers who came here from the near/middle East about 6/7000 years ago.

All aftercomers to Britain/Ireland were little more than a drop in the sea genetically (though the Vikings did make a fairly good showing!)

Re: the question of were the welsh Britons-well, yes since this was the land of the Pretani,and they were of that land.

Answer 4

Though the Welsh consitute members of the UK, they generally wish not to construe themselves as "English," rather the term British may be more aptly applied.

Answer 5

It's complicated becuase the term British and Briton today refers to something totally different. It refers to the islands and a sovereing state.

The Welsh are British in the sense that they are a constituent country of the Uk. Although i object to this as do many , I advocate Welsh independence the sooner the better.

The Welsh are undoubtedly Celts, and have a prosperous Celtic culture. The Welsh language is a member of the Celtic language family the Brythonic ones.

The Welsh are the original Britons being the first to inhabit these islands. This is backed up by DNA studies and linguistic presence.

The Welsh are also fought to have inhabited Ireland before the gaels.

Welsh was once the dominant language of the whole of the British Isles. Apart from Northern Scotland.  Welsh then developed into Cumbric, Cornish and Breton after separation from the main welsh language. The Welsh language spoken today is fought to be at least 4000 years old if not older. The weird thing about Welsh is someone who is fluent in Welsh today can understand welsh which was written in the 6th and 5h century before English even existed. And people can't understand old English. Welsh has barely changed and is classed as one of the oldest living spoken(not written)  languages of Europe.

Answer 6

the welsh are britons they were the ancient britons the true natives of britain england scotland and possibly ireland were part of wales the strathclyde celts were welsh william wallace was strathclyde celt he was welsh he was born in scotland but he was of welsh descent his father was welsh and wallace is a welsh surname