Friday 17 February 2017

Is there a rival to Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau as our national anthem?



Yesterday as part of an Opinion Poll he commissioned Wings over Scotland published the result of an opinion poll in what Scotland's National Anthem should be.




The result favoured Flower of Scotland though God Save the Queen reached 10% ironically similar to those in Wales who want Independence according to some polls.


Caledonia scored 14% and although Freedom Come A Ye only reached 2% it had some support in the comments section.


Maybe the question is whether Flower of Scotland an anthem, which is after all about an English Invasion would be suitable for an Independent Scotland.

It led me to comment


glynbeddau says:16 February, 2017 at 6:20 pmThis could be the only case when Wales is ahead of you. I doubt there’s would be much dispute over Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau

I think I am right but maybe there are other options


Yma o Hyd for example ?


I would consider 
or the rather beautiful Gweddi dros Gymru"  "A Prayer for Wales" (a national song of Wales) if the haunting tune was not Finalndia Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.


Maybe an Independent Wales would consider a New Anthem but the problem is that you could end up with a song like Advance Australia Fair he song was first performed in 1878 and sung in Australia as a patriotic song. It replaced "God Save the Queen" as the official national anthem in 1984, following a plebiscite to choose the national song in 1977.

Its not my favourite tune, and Australia could do better.


I rather like God defend New Zealand.

Originally written as a poem, it was set to music as part of a competition in 1876. Over the years its popularity increased, and it was eventually named the second national anthem in 1977. The anthem has English and Māori lyrics, with slightly different meanings. When performed in public, the usual practice is to sing the first verse in both Māori and English.

Wales is largely responsible for National Anthems at sporting events

In 1905, Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau became the first national anthem to be sung at the start of a sporting event.[Although crowds singing anthems during matches was commonplace, there was no precedent for the anthem to be sung before a game commenced in any sport.The Welsh national rugby team were playing host to the first touring New Zealand team, who to that point were unbeaten. After Wales won the Triple Crown in the 1905 Home Nations Championship the match was dubbed the 'Game of the Century' by the press. The New Zealand team started every match with the Haka, and Welsh Rugby Union administrator Tom Williams, suggested that Wales player Teddy Morgan lead the crowd in the singing of the anthem as a response. After Morgan began singing, the crowd joined in,and Wales became the first nation to sing a national anthem at the start of a sporting event.

It is rather odd that we have in Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau one of best Anthems for a crowd to sing together which such a distinct National Flag but when it comes to taking political power for our nation we shy away.

Anyway I think we probably are united over Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau , but if you have any alternatives let me know.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

After Brexit Wales's national anthem should be God Save the Queen