Financial Time and Observer insult Wales with crass and inaccurate articles.

One of the most irritating aspects of the London Media  anti Cymraeg  aricles  is that they seem to find critics who are either anonymous   or who can't be identified so the validity  of what they claim can be questioned,

The Financial Time is the latest and the fact that it has  edited an article to remove anonymous anti-Welsh language comments after  complaints has further led many to question the truth part  of the article.

As Nation Cymru  report

"The original article (Firewalll) entitled ‘Staycation nation: turf wars in the UK’s holiday hotspots’ included comments by ‘Megan’, “who did not want to give her real name for fear of retribution”.

‘Megan,’ “a Welsh speaker who grew up in Wales” but “now lives in England” claimed that Welsh speakers spoke the language in order to exclude and insult tourists.

“These tensions have led the Welsh to weaponise their ancient Celtic language against tourists,” the article claimed. Words to look out for were “Saesneg” and “mochyn” (‘the English language’ and ‘pig’).

However, in the latest version of the online article, Megan’s comments have been removed and a note appended to the article saying that it was amended “to reflect more fairly the relationship between Welsh speakers and English tourists”.

In other words we made it up.

In did  not take much investigation  to  see that they did 

 The use of ‘Saesneg’ gives the game away,” Iestyn Hughes said. “Someone (wonder who) has looked up ‘English’ in a dictionary thinking ‘the English’ – but ‘Saesneg is the word for the English language, not for English people.

An article  that could have investigated the concerns  of local people (including those who have moved in  being worried out the swarms of visitors , whilst they are still easing lockdown was turned into another , (They speak Welsh to annoy us)  cliché,

Locals (and people in Wales in general) in a popular North Wales village were left angered after a national newspaper dubbed it 'Cheshire-by-the Sea'.

The picturesque coastal village of Abersoch on the Llyn Penninsula was described as such in a travel piece in the Observe a supposedly  like r, as a reflection of the area's popularity with visitors from Cheshire.

However, according to North Wales Live, the people of Abersoch have reacted with disdain at the term, accusing the newspaper of erasing Welsh culture and heritage.

The article on the best coastal hotels in the UK named Abersoch's Porth Tocyn Hotel and Portmeirion among its top spots.

It said: "Known as Cheshire-by-Sea, this village on the Llyn peninsula spreads on to beaches that range from the gently curving sheltered main beach to surfy Porth Neigwl (Hell’s Mouth), plus a small harbour, posh boutiques and surf shops."

 

It is all to reminiscent of the erosion of placenames in Cymraeg being replaced by English omes.

In another article in Nation Cymru Sian Gwenllian MS, Plaid Cymru Shadow Minister for Culture and the Welsh Language argued 

Are Ynys Lawd, Llyn Bochlwyd or Clogwyn y Geifr names you’re familiar with? If not, you’re unlikely to learn of them from modern maps, guide books or websites, in which they’re being replaced with anglicised names such as ‘South Stack’, ‘Lake Australia’, and ‘Devil’s Appendix’.

These are not isolated cases, nor are place names and places of natural beauty the only victims of the loss of their Welsh names, with a petition calling for legislation to prevent people from changing Welsh house names gathering almost 18,000 signatures, signifying the magnitude and significance of the issue.

Comedian Tudur Owen recently spoke out about the issue, highlighting the prevalence of the loss of Welsh names, and describing how “history is lost when place names are changed”.

This is a notion that I fear is true.

The Observer is like its sister paper The Guardian supposedly a Liberal and Progressive paper and it all to soon , seems blind to the feelings of the people of Wales  whilst often supporting  the fight of indigenous  people elsewhere , faced wit their language and culture being eroded.

Whilst it can be educational see how others see us it seems that it all to often a crass and inaccurate  view. to The need  for an Independent Welsh Media , that we can turn to daily in the time of a seeming national Awaking has never ben more necessary.