Welsh Rarebits Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Mormon Tabernacle Choir

What's that old joke about when two Scots meet, they invent something, when two Irishmen meet they stand each other a beer, when two Englishmen meet they wait for a third to introduce them to each other, and when two Welshmen meet, they form a choir? I'm not saying that the Welsh come out of the womb singing, but if they did, it wouldn't surprise me! The Welsh love to sing, and they're very good at it. Dan Jones, a Welsh immigrant to the U.S., became a friend of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) not long before Smith died. Jones had been converted by Smith and in 1843, he was commissioned by Smith's successor Brigham Young to conduct a mission in Wales. Jones began his mission in Merthyr Tydfil, and it was very successful. Times were hard for the Welsh (their language and customs were in jeopardy because of oppressive laws isued from Westminster) and the lure of a promised land was irresistible.

They settled in Utah in their hundreds, and by 1847, under the leadership of Welshman John Parry, they had formed a choir (which is much the same as saying that the sun will come up tomorrow).

It was Parry's successor, another Welshman named Evan Stephens, who formed the great Mormon Tabernacle Choir, using the voices of Parry's Bowery Choir as the core. One of the plus factors of having Welsh and Welsh-descended singers around is that instrumental accompaniment isn't necessary, so even out in the middle of the desert, it's possible to have a choir. The Welsh are very comfortable singing a capella, and will naturally form into soprano, alto, tenor and bass groupings, singing point and counterpoint harmonies with ease.

Answer: 'Land of My Fathers'

'Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau' was adopted in 1858. The words were written by Welsh poet Evan James and the beautiful music by James James (and they probably weren't related; it's just that there aren't a whole lot of different surnames to go around in Wales). 'When You Come Home Again to Wales' is a song made popular by the late, great Sir Harry Secombe, host of 'Songs of Praise' and 'Highway' (a TV program that, in part, introduced the beauty of Wales to audiences around the world). Sir Harry was also one of the Goons, along with Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers. (The Goons were the inspiration for Monty Python, Beyond the Fringe, and other off-the-wall British comedy troupes.)

Answer: First non-Englishman to head the Church of England

Well, you can scratch that bit about a female Archbishop of Canterbury for a start! Have you seen pictures of Rowan Williams? He's lovingly known as the Hairy Archbishop, what with his whiskers and all (besides the C. of E. is still deciding whether or not women look good in purple); and there's no way on God's green earth that a non-Anglican could ever head up the C. of E. - that would be nothing short of heresy in the eyes of Anglicans everywhere; and as for being the first ABC with a doctorate, that isn't true, either. No, Rowan Williams is the first non-Englishman to head the Church of England since it was established in 1534. Dr. Williams was born into a Welsh-speaking family in Swansea in South Wales, and is a theologian, scholar and poet ... and proud Welshman. If you look closely at his magnificent gold cope (that's the long cape worn by Anglican bishops - dressing-up is something we Anglicans enjoy), you'll notice that the clasp (officially called a morse) is formed by a Celtic cross with a dragon rampant on each side. One dragon is made of red Welsh gold and the other dragon is made of white gold.

The clasp was designed by Rhiannon Evans, a goldsmith from Tregaron near Aberystwyth in mid-Wales, and symbolizes an old prophecy of Merlin (yes, another Welshman), that the red dragon (Wales) would defeat the white dragon (the Anglo-Saxons). Incidentally, the Archbishop of Canterbury is the spiritual head of the Church of England, while the Queen is the temporal head of the Church. Archbishop Williams has no over-arching authority in the worldwide Anglican Communion, because each province of the Anglican Communion is an independent church, so he does not have the same authority as the Pope. However, as the Archbishop of the oldest see in the Anglican Communion, he is known as the Primus Inter Pares (the First Among Equals).

Answer: 'Men of Harlech'

Every Welsh child learns to sing this stirring song. I learned it in both Welsh and English. The song was featured in 'Zulu' which chronicled the heroism of a small detachment of British soldiers (many of whom were from South Wales) made up of members of the Warwickshire Regiment, the Native Natal Force, the Royal Engineers, the Army Service Corps and the Army Hospital Corps, in defence of Rorke's Drift Station, which was a supply depot and hospital.

The Warwickshires were not happy about being left behind to "look after stores and wounded men" when the main force marched off across the Buffalo River into Zululand to attack the Zulu capital of Ondini (Ulandi) and capture the Zulu King Cetshwayo Kampande. I'm not going to give you the whole story of Rorke's Drift here (rent the movie or read a miltary history book) but suffice it to say, roughly 139 men staved off a force of between four and six thousand Zulus on January 22/23, 1879 - and, in the movie at least, 'Men of Harlech' featured prominently during the battle. Eleven of those soldiers received Victoria Crosses for conspicuous gallantry - the most VCs ever awarded to combatants in one battle.

The original Men of Harlech, by the way, were the Welsh who repeatedly attacked Harlech Castle, one of the ring of great castles erected by Edward I around Wales as a symbol of his sovereignty over the Welsh. The Welsh, not surprisingly, did not take kindly to this, and in 1294 a Welsh chieftain named Madog led a force against the castle. He was turned back by the castle garrison, but the attacks carried on every now and then, and the castle was finally taken in 1404 by Owain Glyndwr who led the revolt against the English. The mightiest of the Men of Harlech was Dafydd ap Ieuan (Lancastrian), who held the castle against Lord Herbert and his brother Sir Richard Herbert (Yorkists) over a long siege that lasted until 1467. Dafydd boasted that he had once held a castle in France against a siege "until all the old women of Wales were talking about it," and he swore he would hold Harlech Castle "until all the old women of France were talking about it." Famine finally brought him and his garrison to their knees and they surrendered on honourable terms. King Edward IV was going to renege on the terms, and was all for putting Dafydd to death, but Sir Richard, rather than seeing the promises broken, offered his own life in exchange for Dafydd's, and Edward backed down. If you ever visit Harlech Castle, be sure to visit the South Wales Borderers and Monmouthshire Regimental Museum there and see the paintings of the Zulu War action.

Answer: The Red Dragon

The Red Dragon has been the heraldic symbol for Wales for centuries. You may wonder how the dragon found its way to Wales, and the explanation is really quite simple. The Romans, who learned about dragons from the Parthians, carried the draco into battle.

The draco is a staff with a dragon's head affixed to the top, with the dragon's body and tail floating behind, like a flag. The Anglo-Saxons adopted the draco as their device, and obviously so did the Normans, since, in 1190, we're told, "the terrible standard of the dragon" was carried at the head of the army led by King Richard Coeur de Lion at the battle of Messina. Meanwhile, the Welsh had also taken the dragon standard for their own, and the seventh-century Welsh hero Cadwaladr used it in his skirmishes.

By the time the Welsh archers were displaying their proficiency with the longbow at Crecy in 1346, the dragon had become the recognized symbol of Wales (when the Black Prince, who was the Prince of Wales, was unhorsed during the battle of Crecy, his Welsh soldiers covered him with the dragon banner for protection while they beat off his attackers).

Henry Tudor, who became Henry VII, had the dragon banner carried before his army onto the field of Bosworth, the final battle of the War of the Roses, and it was he who decided that the red dragon, y ddrai goch, should ever after be on the Welsh flag. The Welsh weren't battle axe wielders - their weapon of choice was the longbow. The Welsh harp is another national symbol, but it's not on the flag.

Answer: Longing for Wales

There's a certain magic about Wales. That little green, hilly country wraps itself around one's heart, and when one is away from Wales, one is filled with hiraeth, a longing for Wales. It's something that is hard to explain to anyone who does not have Welsh roots, but it is strong. I've met people in Canada who are fifth/sixth generation Canadians of Welsh descent who have never laid eyes, never mind foot, on Cymru, who feel hiraeth!

Answer: Cambria

The Romans called Ireland Hibernia, Scotland was Caledonia, England was Anglia, and Wales was Cambria; the whole of Great Britain was Brittania. Cambria was probably as close as those old Romans could come to Cymru. While the Welsh call their country Cymru, they call themselves the Cymraeg.

Answer: Llareggub

Gwalia is the word that mediaeval Welsh poets used for Wales, and in 'Under Milk Wood', it is used by the Rev. Eli Jenkins in his ode to Wales. Gwent is one of the four regions of Wales, and it is in the south. Llaethcoed is just me being silly (llaeth is Welsh for milk and coed is Welsh for wood), so that leaves Llareggub. What does it mean? Read it backwards. Oh, that naughty Dylan! He enjoyed his little jokes! Despite his fondness for alcohol, Dylan's amazing output in his short 39 years on this planet reveals a mastery of the written and spoken word. Consider the opening lines of 'Under Milk Wood': "To begin at the beginning.

It is spring, moonless night in the small town, starless and bible-black, the cobblestreets silent and the hunched courters'-and-rabbits' wood limping invisible down to the sloeblack, slow, black, fishingboat-bobbing sea.

The houses are blind as moles (though moles see fine tonight in the snouting, velvet dingles) or blind as Captain Cat there in the muffled middle by the pump and the town clock, the shops in mourning, the Welfare Hall in widows' weeds. And all the people of the lulled and dumbfound town are sleeping now." 'Under Milk Wood' is subtitled 'A Play for Voices', and it had its debut at the Fogg Museum at Harvard on May 3, 1953, with Dylan reading all the parts - Captain Cat, the Rev. Eli Jenkins, Gossamer Beynon, Sinbad, Dai Bread, Organ Morgan, Polly Garter, Mr. Pugh...and so many others. Dylan died in November 1953, and the play was published after his death.

In 1963, the BBC recorded it for radio with narration by Richard Burton, who also made a (very bad!) movie of 'Under Milk Wood' with his then-wife Elizabeth Taylor. I don't mean the acting was bad, just that 'Under Milk Wood' was written to be heard and not seen, and it is perfect that way.

Answer: Daniel Craig

Daniel Craig - the successor to Pierce Brosnan as James Bond - was born in Chester which is on the border of England and Wales, so he almost qualifies, even though he grew up in Liverpool. The other three are Welsh through and through. Listen to their lovely flat 'a' sounds when they speak English.

Answer: Making up a song while playing a traditional tune

While it's probable that the Welsh sing while climbing, or sky diving, and they might even try it under water - they just love to sing! - Penillion singing is something altogether different. Penillion (which means 'stanzas' as far as I can remember) requires one to make up a new song while playing an old tune on the harp.

The song has to make sense, it has to have a prescribed metre, and it has to be appropriate to the tune. Penillion singers all over Wales compete at their local Eisteddfod (an Eisteddfod is a competitive gathering of poets, singers, dancers and musicians) and the winner in each local Eisteddfod then goes on to compete at the annual National Eisteddfod (held in North Wales one year, and South Wales the next, and so on).

The winner is crowned Bard of Wales. Bards are a long-standing tradition in Wales, a country in which poets and musicians receive as much adulation as movie stars and sports heroes do in North America.

The Welsh even hold an international Eisteddfod in Langollen, and invite choirs and musicians, dancers and poets from other countries to compete. I don't believe they have a Penillion competition at the International Eisteddfod, though.

It's a Welsh thing.