The Description of Wales
by Geraldus Cambrensis
Book I
Chapter VI
Concerning the pleasantness and fertility of
Wales
As the southern part of Wales near Cardiganshire, but
particularly Pembrokeshire, is much pleasanter, on account
of its plains and sea-coast, so North Wales is better
defended by nature, is more productive of men distinguished
for bodily strength, and more fertile in the nature of its
soil; for, as the mountains of Eryri (Snowdon) could supply
pasturage for all the herds of cattle in Wales, if collected
together, so could the Isle of Mona (Anglesey) provide a
requisite quantity of corn for all the inhabitants: on which
account there is an old British proverb, "MON MAM CYMBRY,"
that is, "Mona is the mother of Wales." Merionyth, and the
land of Conan, is the rudest and least cultivated region,
and the least accessible. The natives of that part of Wales
excel in the use of long lances, as those of Monmouthshire
are distinguished for their management of the bow. It is to
be observed, that the British language is more delicate and
richer in North Wales, that country being less intermixed
with foreigners. Many, however, assert that the language of
Cardiganshire, in South Wales, placed as it were in the
middle and heart of Cambria, is the most refined.
The people of Cornwall and the Armoricans speak a
language similar to that of the Britons; and from its origin
and near resemblance, it is intelligible to the Welsh in
many instances, and almost in all; and although less
delicate and methodical, yet it approaches, as I judge, more
to the ancient British idiom. As in the southern parts of
England, and particularly in Devonshire, the English
language seems less agreeable, yet it bears more marks of
antiquity (the northern parts being much corrupted by the
irruptions of the Danes and Norwegians), and adheres more
strictly to the original language and ancient mode of
speaking; a positive proof of which may be deduced from all
the English works of Bede, Rhabanus, and king Alfred, being
written according to this idiom.
The Description of Wales
Book I
by Geraldus Cambrensis
Chapter V
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