Wales

W. WATKIN DAVIES
M.A., F.R.HIST.S. BARRISTER-AT-LAW
Author of How to Read History, etc.
NEW YORK HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY LONDON WILLIAMS AND NORGATE
COPYRIGHT, 1925, BY HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CONTENTS
CHAPTER


WALES
From the low chain of sand dunes which fringes the north-eastern coast of France can be discerned, on a day of ordinary brightness, the great cliffs of Kent. Frequently they are overhung by the dark and damp canopy which has given to our island the evil reputation of being the home of eternal mist and night. But occasionally the sun strikes them, and they appear brilliantly white and alluring. To the French shore have come, in the course of centuries, wave after wave of wandering peoples; men impelled by every sort of motive, fear of stronger foes, love of plunder, and eagerness for adventure. They have come; they have seen the beckoning white cliffs so enticing in their mystery, and have crossed over and essayed to make them their own. Thither only the other day came the ruthless German, bent upon striking at the tiny heart of so vast an Empire. Thither a hundred years before came Napoleon, reluctant that any part of Europe should challenge his overlordship. Thither eight centuries earlier had come the polished and adventurous Norman, eager to win broad acres and martial renown beyond the sea. Still earlier had come the Danes, plunderers rather than settlers, but men who nevertheless left an abiding mark upon the heterogeneous population of the island. The Danes had but followed in the wake of the German tribes who had come over, conquered, and bestowed a new name upon the larger and more fertile part of Britain. It is with the arrival of these last-named people that the history of England begins; but the history of Wales must be traced to a far earlier origin. Indeed, we can trace the descent of the people who now inhabit the hills and valleys of the westernmost parts of Britain to those dim prehistoric times about which only geology, ethnology, philology, and archæology can enlighten us. And at an even earlier date than that this country was inhabited by man: but the ice of the north descended upon the land, and all the higher forms of life became extinct. Between the men of the pre-glacial and the men of the post-glacial age in Britain no link has as yet been discovered.