United States or Cayman Islands ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
He shook his head and scowled when I spoke to him in English, but smiled on my speaking Welsh, and said: "Ah, you speak Cumraeg: I thought no Sais could speak Cumraeg." I asked him if he was going far. "About four miles," he replied. "On the Bangor road?" "Yes," said he; "down the Bangor road."
"Dim Saesneg, sir," said the man, looking rather sheepish, "Dim gair o Saesneg." Rather surprised that a person of his appearance should not have a word of English, I repeated my question in Welsh. "Ah, you speak Cumraeg, sir;" said the man evidently surprised that a person of my English appearance should speak Welsh. "I am glad of it! What hill is that, you ask Dyna Mont Owain Glyndwr, sir."
He was really a remarkable character, and taught me two or three things besides Welsh pronunciation; and to discourse a little in Cumraeg.
"Because it is the true religion, sir." "You should not be bigoted. If I had more Cumraeg than I have, I would prove to you that the only true religion is that of the Lloegrian Church." "In truth, sir, you could not do that; had you all the Cumraeg in Cumru you could not do that." "What are you by trade?" "I am a gwehydd, sir." "What do you earn by weaving?" "About five shillings a week, sir."
"In Cumraeg?" "Yes, sir, in Cumraeg. I can read Saxon a little but not sufficient to understand a Saxon newspaper." "What newspaper do you read?" "I read, sir, Yr Amserau." "Is that a good newspaper?" "Very good, sir, it is written by good men." "Who are they?" "They are our ministers, sir." "Of what religion are you?" "A Calvinistic Methodist, sir." "Why are you of the Methodist religion?"
He entered two or three cottages by the side of the road, and each time he came out I heard him say: "I am with a Sais who can speak Cumraeg." At length we came to a gloomy-looking valley trending due north; down this valley the road ran, having an enormous wall of rocks on its right and a precipitous hollow on the left, beyond which was a wall equally high as the other one.
I may know a few words, but I cannot converse in Saxon, nor understand a conversation in that tongue." "Can you read Cumraeg?" "In truth, sir, I can." "What have you read in it?" "I have read, sir, the Ysgrythyr-lan, till I have it nearly at the ends of my fingers." "Have you read anything else besides the holy Scripture?" "I read the newspaper, sir, when kind friends lend it to me."
"Why," said I; "after conquering the country they put all the men to death, and married the women, but before a child was born they cut out all the women's tongues, so that the only language the children heard when they were born was pure Cumraeg. What do you think of that?" "Why, that it was a cute trick," said he of the hat. "A more clever trick I never heard," said the man of the cap.
The language of the Cumro is called after him Cumraeg. Of Cumric there are three dialects, the speech of Cumru or Wales; that of Armorica or, as the Welsh call it, Llydaw, and the Cornish, which is no longer spoken, and only exists in books and in the names of places.
"I'll go farther," said I; "I wish to do justice to everything: I call the Welsh a fine language." "So it is, Mr. Ah, I see you are an unprejudiced man. You don't understand Welsh, I guess." "I don't understand Welsh," said I; "I don't understand Welsh. That's what I call a good one." "Medrwch siarad Cumraeg?" said the short figure spitting on the carpet. "Medraf," said I. "You can, Mr!
Word Of The Day