In Praise Of Being Welshie

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

There is a trick amongst the conquered that divide and rule is one of the best ways to handle the colonised. If an attitude sticks then it would take people a lot to wrench it away and realise that it's just a subtle mind game by the establishment.

Recently on Twitter but I've heard it also around as well there has been the word to describe some Welsh people by other Welsh people of being "Welshie".

Now I've always taken the word to mean that the person being described to is being loudly proudly Welsh. Also the accent is loud lively and broad. and not the quiet lyrical one of Welsh cliché.

When the word is spoken by someone from England describing someone Welsh it's as if to say "Well there's no mistaking where he/she comes from" which nobody can really complain about.

However when the word is used by a one Welsh person to describe another it really has a different meaning. Being too loud, too lively, too broad an accent. The undertone also is that person being described about is at best unrefined. At worse thick as the proverbial pair of planks.

So let's be clear. There is nothing wrong in being Welshie. Being loud and proud about where you come from is a right and not to be let out only during rugby/football internationals. What other nation is so pejorative of itself? Is there a similar insult on Scots or the Irish by their fellow citizens? I don't think so. And there's certainly no similar word for the English.

Then why is it so? Well at a guess I suspect that could be linked to being Bolshie. That is a word used too also describing someone who's not quiet. Perhaps as well subconsciously it's a wish not to cause trouble. I've spoken before of my view that the trouble with the vast majority of Welsh people is that they're just too nice and accepting situations/attitudes that the Scots or the Irish would fight against. Perhaps they should let out their inner Welshie a bit more. For then perhaps divide and rule will be replaced by a more unifying force for independence.

Until the next time.

Until the next time.