Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/313

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WALES. 257 WALES. This is one of tlio most (Iciiscly populalej coun- ties in Great Uritain. its growth hein-; duo to its great mininf; industry. It contains all the cities of Wales that exceeiled a pciiiulalion of ;>0,000 in 1!)01: Cardiir, with l(i4,420, having' increased 27.54 per cent, in the decade endinj^ with that year; Swansi'a, with i.l4,r)14; and Merthyr Tydlll, with G!),227. Wales is divided into 12 'adminis- trative counties, as shown in the preceding table. The greater portion of the population belong to the Calvinistic. Aicthodist, or other dissenting bodies. Various altenipls have been made to se- cure the disestablishment of the Church of Eng- land, which is still the State Church. Wales has the same educational system as England (q.v.). (See also (Jke.vt Britain.) Elected school boards have charge of elementary education in districts not adeipiately provided for by voluntary schools, the necessitous voluntary schools receiving public aid. Attendance is com- pulsory. Non-sectarian religious instruction is otVered but is not compulsory in board schools. Sectarian instruction may be given in the volun- tary schools. There is no organized system of secondary education. The Iniversity of Wales, consisting of the three colleges of Aberystwith, Bangor, and Cardiff, was established in ISfl.S. The Welsh are a Celtic people. Their average height is 1.GU5 metres; the cephalic index, TS.O. The Welsh are brunettes, with black hair and luizel eyes. The earliest inhabitants of Wales, as of the rest of Britain, are sup])osed to have been of non-Caueasic origin. These were suc- ceeded by Celts, possibl^y first of the Gaelic di- vision, although in the earliest historic times Wales, like Britain, was occupied liy Cymric or Biythonic Celts. After the Saxon invasion Wales M'as, as it still remains, the ethnic centre of this race, although later admixtures of both Irish and English have probably modified the type. History. At the time of the coming of the Eomaus, the tribes of Wales, representing a mix- ture of the primitive Il)erians with the later in- vading Celts, were the Decongi in the north, the Opdovices in the centre, the Silures in the south- east, and the Demeta; in the southwest, all bear- ing the general name of Cymry. After a long struggle the subjugation of these tribes was accomplished under Vespasian. The Celtic in- habitants of Britain, fleeing before the wave of Anglo-Saxon invasion, took refuge in the ^^'elsh mountains, where, in time, they were merged with their native kinsmen and main- tained their independence against' the Teuton conquerors. The country was divided into sev- eral States, of which CJwynedd, Gwent. Dyved, and Powys were the most important. Of these the first two, because of their situation on the eastern fiontier of Wales, were engaged in con- stant hostilities with the Anglo-Saxon king- doms, especially Xorthumbria and Mercia. Con- stant warfare, too, prevailed among the Welsh principalities themselves. In 1062-fi4 Harold, the son of Godwin, overran Wales with an Eng- li^li army after a struggle with Llewellyn ap Grillith, King of Gwyiiedd. William the Con- queror succeeded in forcing the recognition of liis sovereignty from the Welsh princes, but this did not prevent them from raiding the English border, for protection of which the early Norman kings erected a number of feudal lordships with very extensive powers, the so-called lords of the marches. The marcheis were a turbulent class and a source of trouble; to the kings, but they served their |nir])Ose in holding the Welsh back. I.lcwcllyn, Prince of North Wales, had sided with Simon di- Monlfort against Henry III., but later had submitted to the King. In 127;i, how- ever, he refused to paj' homage lo the new King, lOdward I., who in 1277 invaded Wales and at Khuddian c(nni)elled Mcwellyn to submit to hu- miliating terms, including the surrender of the eastern portion of his lands and the annual acknowledgment of fealty. Llewellyn rose in rebellion in 12S2, but perished, and his brother David, who carried on the struggle, was cap- tured in the following year and beheaded. By 1284 the JCnglish eon(|uest of the country was complete, ami the luoccsh of introducing English law and administration was begun. In l:U)l Kdward I. (M)nferred on his second son, Edward, born at Carnarvon, in Wales, the title of Prince of Wales (see W.i.es, Prince of), and this suf- ficiently satisfied the pride of the Welsh to keep them loyal for a hundred years. The national spirit did not die out, however, and was nour- ished by the songs of the bards, whom the Eng- lish Government regarded with great disfavor. Upon the seizure of the English throne by Henry IV. a revolt broke out in Wales, which, under the leadership of Owen Glcudower (q.v.). as- sumed, in 1402, fornii<lable pro])ortinns. Henry IV. re])eatedly invaded the country, but the re- volt was not suppressed till the death of (ilen- dower, about 1415. The Welsh submitted to Henry IV., whom, from his birthplace. Mon- mouth, they regarded as their countryman, (ilendower's was the last national U])risiiig. In 15.'iG Wales was incorporated with England, its inhabitants receiving all the rights and privi- leges of English subjects. Worth}' of notice is the national revival Of recent years, which has taken the form of a patriotic cultivatiim of the. ancient Cymric tongue and literature. See Wel.sh Lancuage ano Literature. Consult: Cooke, Topographical and Statistical Description of Wales (London, n. d.) ; Woodward, History of Wales (ib., 18.50) : Odgers. Local Gov- ernment in Enrjland and Wales (ib., 1890) ; Rhys and Jones, The Welsh People (ib., 1900) ; Ed- wards, Wales (New York, 1902). WALES, Prince of. The title borne by the eldest son of the sovereign of Great Britain and Ireland. It was first conferred on Prince Ed- ward, afterwards Edward II., in 1.301. The idea of making Wales an appanage for the heir ap- parent seems due to Eldward III., who in 1.34.3 invested his son, the Black Prince, with the prin- cipality, and from that time the title has been borne by the eldest son of the reigning King. The Principality of Wales has usuaily been he- stowed by ])ate!it and investiture, though in a few instances the heir to the throne has become Prince of Wales simply by being so declared. The Earldom of Chester was made a princi- pality for the King's eldest son in 1393. and has since the accession of Henry IV. been annexed to the Principality of Wales. On the death of a Prince of 'ales in his father's lifetime, the title has been conferred on the heir apparent. As heir of the crown of Scotland, the eldest son of the sovereign is Prince and High Steward of Seotlatul. Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, and Lord of the Isles. As