Victoria’s Welsh Society: The Long Reach of the Welsh
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Victoria’s Welsh Society: The Long Reach of the Welsh
What have Hong Kong, Patagonia, Oslo, and Victoria have in common? They all have Welsh Societies! There are almost 500 societies worldwide and they include choirs, language groups, and dance clubs, from Arizona and Australia to Zimbabwe. Canada alone has 43 societies listed. The tentacles of the Cymry, the Welsh, are ubiquitous.
I first met a Welshman on our honeymoon. We were camping near the Roman aqueduct at Segovia, Spain and chatting with an older couple around a campfire. This ancient was just turning 40 and introduced himself as Tom Nash, an artist from Carmarthenshire. The where meant nothing to me then, but the what of our conversation did. I wrote into our travel diary back in 1971 that Nash had said “It’s so easy to keep ‘busy’ and stay away from yourself. It’s important to put experiences into perspective.” What a wise thing to say to someone in their early 20s! Are all Welsh people so wise, I wondered?
Well if not wise, it seems they have definitely got a strong sense of community and friendship. Victoria is fortunate to have a society that promotes celebrating and sharing the heritage of Welsh Canadians with others in Greater Victoria and beyond. According to Statistics Canada, 2006, there were 440,000 people who claimed to be of Welsh descent, about 1.5% of the population, although no one responded that they spoke Welsh at home in the 2011 census. The numbers may be small, but it was always the Welsh hwyl, the stirring feeling of energy and élan, that mattered more.
Perhaps it was hwyl that prompted David and Margaret Lintern, among others, to resurrect a Welsh Society in 1979 at an informal home meeting of friends with shared interests about Wales and Welsh culture. Now there are approximately 50 members who range from those Welsh-born and who are fluent in Welsh; to those who are familiar with Welsh songs and phrases; those who merely have an interest in matters Welsh; and those of no heritage as such but who are friends. Thus, over time, 35 years to be precise, the Victoria Welsh Society has grown into an active, non-profit association that encourages a variety of activities among a broad range of people.
The society has long and welcoming arms which link Victoria members and friends with many others. For instance, in 2010, the Victoria Welsh Society welcomed the award-winning Côr Godre’r Aran Male Choir from Llanuwchllyn, North Wales, conducted by Eirian Owen; hosted a school exchange of 60 students and staff who performed dances and played rugby and field hockey against local schools; and attended in force the Welsh play about Anglesey, entitled “Floating”, by Hugh Hughes. Interestingly, the current president of the society, Nerys Hughes, may be related to the playwright or to John Ceiriog Hughes, the Robbie Burns of Wales who won the poetry award at the 1858 revived Eisteddfod (a session or festival of music, literature and performance).
Anyone can tell you that Welsh namesakes are legion and so are famous Welsh people: Catherine Zeta-Jones, actor; Dame Shirley Bassey, singer; David Lloyd George, politician and prime minister; Ian Woosnam, golfer; Ken Follett, writer; and Dylan Thomas, poet, to name a few. Famous Canadian author, Robertson Davies, is of Welsh descent. My goodness, some Welsh even have laid a controversial claim to St. Patrick, saying he was born in South Wales. The Cymry seemed to have contributed in every field of endeavour.
The cornerstone celebration of the Welsh cultural year is St. David’s Day, or Dewi Sant, Wales’ patron saint. It takes the form of an annual banquet usually held as conveniently near to March 1st as can be arranged. It is a celebratory event where friendships are renewed and personal stories reviewed. Traditions are maintained through a program of music, song, explorations of history, and exchanges of goodwill.
There are Welsh symbols that persist today: the leek to distinguish soldiers’ identity, the triple harp, the springtime daffodil, the ostrich feathers of the Prince of Wales, and the Red Dragon that some say go back to King Arthur’s time. You may not want to be a Cymrodorion (a pursuer of Welsh learning), or even be vaguely Celtic; but there is no denying the Welsh influence in Canadian life.
St. David’s Day falls on a Saturday, March 1, 2014 and it’s the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Victoria Welsh Society. The long reach of the Cymry arms are beckoning you to join them this year and you don’t even have to be Welsh or a member. On a variation of the adage, “if you can’t avoid ‘em, then join ‘em, the repast could be a time to discover your Welsh connections or merely sample leek soup, roast lamb and Welsh cakes.
If you mark March 1 in your calendar, you can attend the St. David’s Day luncheon to be held at the Gorge Vale Golf Course, beginning at 11:30 a.m. and at a cost of $40 per person. Contact Jen Pearson, 250-477-2548 no later than February 21, 2014.