Cymru - 'Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau' Trivia Quiz

Answer: Land Of My Fathers

It has been said that the Welsh 'hew coal like heroes, play rugby football like princes and sing like angels'; after hearing this song being sung with gusto by thousands of Welsh men and women before Wales play at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, it is nigh impossible to disagree with that statement.

The unofficial Welsh anthem, 'Land of My Fathers' was penned in 1856 by two weavers from Pontypridd, the father and son team of Evan and James (John) James; the full and correct title is 'Old Land of My Fathers'. Like the National Anthem of Great Britain, the anthem consists of three verses but only the first and the chorus are usually sung.

Answer: The Red Kite

Once so common that it became a nuisance and was considered vermin, the beautiful Red Kite, Milvus milvus, was driven to the edge of extinction here in Great Britain during the eighteenth century and only found refuge in the most remote areas of Wales. Gigrin Farm at Rhayader is the UK's only official Red Kite feeding and rehabilitation centre, becoming the feeding station during 1993 and, after a request from the RSPB, it became the rehabilitation centre in January 2003. Surprisingly, during feeding sessions over the winter of 2005/2006, over four hundred Red Kites visited the centre for food; an incredible increase in numbers from around only a dozen individual birds some twelve years or so earlier. On my most recent visit to Gigrin Farm, I was fortunate enough to view an even rarer treat; a leucistic, or 'white' Red Kite.

This bird is not an albino specimen but does have very pale, almost white plumage and blue eyes.

Answer: A collection of Welsh myths and legends

To give this work its correct name, the 'Mabinogi' from the Welsh word 'mab' meaning 'boy' or 'youth', the 'Mabinogion' could be considered an early adventure annual for boys. This work was compiled during the early years of the nineteenth century from two texts written during the late medieval period; the White Book of Rydderch (c. 1350) and the Red Book of Hergest (c. 1382-1410). Consisting of eleven tales in total, much of the content of the 'Mabinogion' is set in the period before the Roman invasion of the British Isles and consists of a collection of ancient Welsh poetry, fables and Arthurian legend, much of which was written in the ancient Welsh language.

Answer: Welsh nationalism

Welsh nationalism usually manifested itself in a humorous manner; such as in bumper stickers that read 'Keep Wales Tidy... Dump Your Rubbish in England'. Unfortunately during the latter half of the twentieth century it manifested itself through acts of violence. Outsiders whom had brought property in Wales, were perceived as being partly to blame for a number of economic ills that had afflicted the country and became easy targets; a number of properties, around 220 in fact, were destroyed by a small number of organisations, the most prominent and successful of which were 'Meibion Glyndŵr', or the 'Sons of Glyndŵr'.

Infrastructure projects such as electricity pylons and pipelines were also attacked and damaged as were political offices based in both Wales and England.

In 1993, Sion Aubrey Roberts was sentenced to twelve years in prison after being convicted for sending letter bombs to a number of Conservative politicians. The campaign of organised violence finally came to an end in the mid-1990s.

Answer: King Henry VIII

These Acts of Union, or the 'Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542' to give them their correct titles, probably did more to destroy the culture and language of Wales than any acts of parliament before or since; what is most surprising is that Henry VIII, the king, was a member of the Welsh Tudor dynasty himself! It is said that the best way to undermine and subjugate a people is to destroy its language and these acts almost achieved this. English became the language used in courts of law, for religious ceremony and in commerce; those who spoke Welsh would not be employed or paid for any work that they undertook unless they spoke English.

Answer: Offa's Dyke

The feature known as 'Offa's Dyke' or 'Clawdd Offa' at around 66 feet in width and just over 8 feet in height is and earthwork consisting of a ditch and an associated embankment. Although the dyke did offer a degree of physical and military protection it is considered today that its primary purpose was more political; it was built to demarcate the border between England and Wales and to prevent the racial mixing of the Welsh and those living on the English side of the border area; you might consider Offa's Dyke as a manifestation of 8th-century apartheid. King Offa was the ruler of the region in present-day England that was known as Mercia and which extended from the Welsh border across Saxon England to The Wash, as far north as the River Humber and south to parts of West Sussex.

Answer: The harp

Central to Welsh culture and music is the harp. During the 19th century and the rise of the zealous Protestant religious movements in Wales such as the Baptists and the Methodists, the practice and the playing of harp music, very popular at the time, was frowned upon and many of the clergy sought to frighten their congregations with the promise of a trip to hell if they frittered away their time with music and merry making... I used to wonder where the plot for the film 'Footloose' had been drawn from!

Answer: False

It was the disaster at Aberfan in South Wales in which a school was engulfed by a collapsing waste hill killing one hundred and sixteen young school children and twenty-eight adults. The subsequent outpouring of public rage forced the formation of the Derelict Land Unit.

The unit was given little in the way of funding at the time and could not force any organisation or individual to do anything about the huge mountains of waste that lay dotted around the mining areas. The Derelict Land Unit, over time and by harnessing the strength of public feeling in the aftermath of the Aberfan disaster, has totally transformed the environment in south Wales during the ensuing decades.

The black mountains of colliery waste that had marred the skyline in areas such as the Rhondda have been levelled and planted with trees and grass with the benefits of stabilising the land, attracting wildlife back into the area and making it a far more pleasant area in which to live.

Answer: The Eisteddfod

The 'Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru', the 'National Eisteddfod of Wales' takes its name from a word that translated from Welsh loosely means 'an assembly'; the Eisteddfod is a mix of music, literature, dance, theatre, and art celebrating the culture and language of Wales.

Held alternately in north and south Wales during first week of August each year, the Eisteddfod has a long history that can be traced to as far back as 1176 when Lord Rhys invited a number of bards and musical performers to his castle at Cardigan. Similar to the Olympic Games of ancient Greece, which were also about far more than just sport, the modern day Eisteddfod underwent a great revival during the eighteenth and especially during the nineteenth centuries when, thanks to the efforts of a stonemason named Iolo Morganwg, the first modern Eisteddfod took place in the town of Aberdare in 1861.

The most prestigious prize at the Eisteddfod, and one that is fiercely competed for is the 'Seremoni'r Cadeirio' or 'Chairing Ceremony' in which the prize of an elaborate hand carved wooden throne is presented for the best poem written in 'cynghanedd', a traditional form of Welsh verse.

Answer: The Holy Bible

Indeed, a translation of the Holy Bible into the Welsh language by an Act of Parliament saved it from virtual extinction; had a translation of the Bible into Cornish been officially sanctioned it may well have saved that related language from extinction during the 19th century... But that is another story!