An Awful Lot of "L's" in Llan Trivia Quiz

Answer: Llandaff

Llandaff is about two miles north west of the centre of the city of Cardiff, and means "The Church on the Taff".
The Taff is the river which runs through Cardiff (coming down from the Rhondda Valleys), and probably where the term of endearment used for the Welsh, "Taffy" comes from. The current cathedral has been in Llandaff in some shape or form since the 13th century - though significant evidence exists of there being some sort of religious building there from around the 5th century AD.

Famous "Llandaffians" (it's now a gorgeous little village/suburb of Cardiff) include songstress, Charlotte Church and, this may surprise many people who didn't realize he was Welsh, the writer Roald Dahl.

Answer: Llantrisant

Llan is church again in this context, "tri" is the Welsh word for "three" and "sant" is "saint".
In case you wanted to know, the three saints were St Illtyd, St Gwynno and St Dyfodwg. There we are - the Welsh language suddenly becomes an exercise in tongue twisting once more.

Dr William Price is associated with this town - generally regarded as being the person who introduced the idea of cremating the dead into the UK. His story merits another quiz or ten in itself mind!

Answer: Gwinllan

The "llan" in "Gwinllan" is a slightly different use of the word - "a piece of land set aside for wine" would be a literal translation here. The shop at Llanerch is open every day for visitors and for sampling - so a pleasant little diversion, if not the first thing that would come to the mind of a tourist to Wales - so feel free to go and visit Gwinllan Llanerch - if there aren't too many "llan's" for you to deal with, of course.

"Perllan" is a collection of fruit trees - or an orchard - whilst "corlan" (the double "l" is mutated to a single "l" - and mutation in Welsh is another long essay in itself) is a sheep pen - or a place to keep sheep.

Llanplonc was just an option I made up.

Answer: Llanelli

The coal industry as well as the brewing industry also play important parts in Llanelli's proud history - but probably one of the proudest dates of all in the town's history was the 31 October 1972, when "The Scarlets" beat the touring New Zealand All Blacks side 9-3. Commemorated in many ways, probably one of the most popular is Welsh legend Max Boyce's poem "We all had doctor's papers" which gave a rough explanation of why virtually none of the town's menfolk turned in to work on that day.

Pam Ferris, the actress and star of "Matilda", Keith Allen, the entertainer and father of Lily Allen, and BBC News anchorman Huw Edwards all call Llanelli, in the county of Carmerthenshire, "home" - or in Huw's case, "cartref", as Welsh is his mother tongue.

Answer: Llandovery

Llandovery College was established in 1848, and is an Independent School with a proud history - particularly on the sports fields, where a number of famous Welsh sportsmen have had their talents developed across a wide range of sports.

Llewellyn ap Gruffydd Fychan was a local landowner who was executed by the English in 1401 by refusing to betray the whereabouts of Welsh Prince Owain Glyndwr. Those of you familiar with the film "Braveheart" will be aware of how the English liked to kill their enemies in those days - Llewellyn's execution was even more horrendous than William Wallace's.

Answer: Asturia, Spain

Sorry, a bit of a curveball there - but it was the excuse for me to bring in the whole "Celtic" thing.

Let's start with the definite - there is strong evidence that what we know today as "Celtic Culture" - based on the culture of the six contemporary Celtic Nations (Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Brittany in France, Cornwall and the Isle of Man) - has its roots across extensive parts of Europe - Romania, Hungary, Greece, Spain, Northern Italy, Northern France, and the coastal parts of Belgium and Holland, as well. However, most "Celtic" history was passed on orally, therefore it's very difficult for historians to trace specific migration and genealogy patterns for the Celtic hordes.

Maybe more salient therefore is to look at cultural traditions - Llan de Cubel, from Asturia in Spain (one of the "mythological" Celtic regions of Europe?) play what most people would regard as "Celtic" music - although they themselves maintain that their music is Asturian in origin. But then, if Asturia itself is part of the unwritten Celtic heritage..

Answer: Llanelwedd

The River Wye runs alongside the town of Builth Wells - Llanfair ym Muallt in Welsh. On the other side of the river is the village of Llanelwedd which is the actual location for the Royal Welsh Show which takes place in August every year.

So if you said Llanfair ym Muallt, you were pretty close, only about 100 yards or so out - but to be precisely correct, Llanelwedd is where the Royal Welsh Show is located.

Answer: The International Eisteddfod

The World Bog Snorkelling Championships take place in another "Llan" in Mid Wales - Llanwrtyd Wells. Most of the rugby in Wales is played in the south, and the cup final is usually played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff - and if there is an annual sheep shearing Challenge, it's never taken place in Llangollen.

As a lot of people know, the Welsh have this thing about singing. For at least 800 years, and if you believe some historians, the tradition goes back a lot, lot longer than that. We've also had this thing about getting together on a regular basis to do it with other Welsh people from all over the country.

So in 1947, we decided to start an Eisteddfod that everyone in the world could come to, and sing together. Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Lesley Garrett, Bryn Terfel, Dennis O'Neil, James Galway and Montserrat Caballe are some of the international stars who have graced the Llangollen stage in recent years - it is a very Welsh Festival where the whole world is always made very welcome to come and sing with us!

Answer: David Lloyd George

If you want to visit the quintessential, stone cottage, smell of the sea, Welsh speaking, "Cymru Lan" village, then you must make a beeline for David Lloyd George's birthplace. Much of the "recent" architectural heritage of the village is down to the genius behind nearby Portmeirion, Sir Clough Williams-Ellis (TV fans of "The Prisoner", and in more recent times, "Cold Feet" will know all about Portmeirion), who designed the library, the chapel and the museum in the village.

Answer: Yes

Fortunately, most people refer to it simply as "Llanfair PG", Llanfairpwll or Llanfairpwllgwyngyll if they're feeling energetic!

The literal translation of the name is even longer than the Welsh version mind;

"St Mary's Church in a hollow of white hazel near to a rapid whirlpool and St Tysilio's Church near the red cave."

It really does exist - a gorgeous little village in Anglesey, overlooking the Menai Straits. Worth a visit in its own right - but if you can go home and pronounce the name in Welsh, then you really are half way to cracking the secret of the language!