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From: "M True" <>
Subject: Re: [DNA] More on an Irish 24/10 R1b Variety; S21+?
Date: Sat, 18 Feb 2006 18:54:42 -0000
References: <000a01c634a6$929399c0$bec79045@Ken1> <004c01c634a9$9cad7a90$0101a8c0@your447023ae6b> <000e01c634aa$d19dc420$bec79045@Ken1> <001e01c634ae$ea423840$a6cfae51@oemcomputer> <000801c634af$987148c0$bec79045@Ken1>


This is what the BBC website has to say:

The Flemish colonists in Wales

Asylum Seekers
Flanders suffered greatly after a series of storms, in 1106. Samuel Lewis
wrote, "During a tremendous storm on the coast of Flanders, the sand hills
and embankments were in many places carried away, and the sea inundated a
large tract of country."

This led a large number of Flemings to seek asylum in England, where they
were welcomed by Henry I. They settled in various colonies across England,
but soon, Samuel Lewis wrote, they "became odious to the native population",
and Henry I moved the Flemings to the remote farming settlement in the
cantref, a district of Rhôs, in south Pembrokeshire.

This systematic planting of Flemish settlers by Henry I, and later Henry II,
had significant consequences for the people of south Pembrokeshire.
Geography Professor, Harold Carter looks at the effects, "If you look at the
'Brut y Tywysogyon' - the Chronicle of the Welsh Princes - it records 'a
certain folk of strange origins and customs occupy the whole cantref of Rhôs
the estuary of the river Cleddau, and drove away all the inhabitants of the
land'. In a way you could almost call it a process of ethnic cleansing."

Fortification
A line of over 50 castles and strongholds was built by the Normans and
Flemish to protect south Pembrokeshire from the indigenous Welsh, who had
been forced to move to the hilly country in the north of the county. The
frontier of castles, known as the Landsker line - from the Norse word for
divide - stretched from Newgale on the west coast to Amroth on the south
east coast.

Two thirds of the fortifications were earthworks, with stone castles on or
near navigable waters. The castle at Haverfordwest was built by the Flemish
leader Tancred, soon after the Flemish arrived in 1108. Under its protection
a settlement developed and the foundations were laid for a modern market
town and commercial centre. The village of Wiston, five miles north-east of
Haverfordwest, derived its name from another Fleming, Lord Wizo, who
established a castle there, while Letterston was the settlement of the
suitably nicknamed Letard Litelking ('Little King').

Tenby, on the south east coast of Pembrokeshire, grew in the 12th Century,
when surrounding walls, a castle and a church were erected for the
convenience of the Flemish colonists. The Flemish were experts in the
woollen trade, and soon flourished in the area.

The Flemish occupied the more productive farming land in Pembrokeshire,
south of the Landsker line, in the lowland areas. Here the land was fertile
and warmed by the Gulf Stream, enjoying Indian summers, mild winters and
early springs. Crops were ready two weeks before those in the north of the
county, where the terrain was more mountainous

The Landsker line
Before the Norman Conquest, the majority of what is now Pembrokeshire would
have been Welsh speaking. The Landsker line became a cultural and linguistic
boundary which divided Pembrokeshire into two.

The influx of Flemings into south Pembrokeshire was so great that the Welsh
language was eradicated and Flemish gradually gave way to English as the
dominant language. However, it was a dialect spoken with a strong and
distinctive accent and with a large vocabulary of words not commonly found
elsewhere.

In 1930, P.V.Harris wrote that, "in many ways the dialect of South
Pembrokeshire is the most fascinating in Britain, and owing to the country's
remoteness, perhaps the least adulterated in recent years. Many of the words
are pre-Chaucerian which have fallen into disuse elsewhere and some of the
more familiar words still have the earlier pronunciation." Some examples of
dialect words recorded by Harris in 1930 are: Budger' , A butcher,
'Catamouse' , the bat, 'Catchypawl' , the tadpole, 'Frost Candles' ,Icicles,
and 'Sea-parrot' , the puffin

The South Pembrokeshire Accent
The distinctive qualities of the English spoken in south Pembrokeshire was
noted by George Owen in 1603 ''. the most parte of the countrey speacketh
Englishe and in yt noe use of the Welshe. The names of the people are mere
Englishe eche familye followinge the Englishe fashion in surnames. Their
buildings are Englishe like in town reddes and villages and not in severall
and lone houses. Their dyett is as the Englishe people uses as the common
foode is beefe . These reasons and alsoe for that most of the anciente
gentlemen came thither out of England . might verye fittlye procure it the
name of Little England beyonde Wales."

Whether it was George Owen who coined the phrase, or he was merely repeating
a common term, "Little England beyond Wales" came to refer to the country
south of the Landsker Line.

The divide in language and custom in Pembrokeshire that the Landsker line
represented has remained until this day. Previously, intermarriage between
the two cultures had been discouraged, as language wasn't the only
difference. Roy Lewis, a writer from the area, comments on the religious
factors, "Early in my life time there was no intermingling of north and
south. This was mainly due to religion, as those from the north were
Non-conformist, and those from the south, mainly Catholic and Anglican. You
didn't get involved with a 'down below'."

South Pembrokeshire has become a popular place to relocate to, from other
parts of the UK. This fresh wave of people has softened the cultural divide.
"They are not aware of the factions", says Roy, and therefore have no
loyalties to either side of the line, which remains an identifiable boundary
between the two separate, but complementary cultures.

Hope some of this is of interest or use.

John.

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