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England has always played the most powerful part in the history of the British Isles.But the stories of Wa les, Ireland and Sco tland are also important, because the ir peop le still feel different from the AngloSaxon English.However, the orhe r three countries, Wa les, Ireland and Scotland, have a differen t history.Wales By th e eight h century most of the Celts had been driven int o the Welsh peninsula.Until recently few historians looked at British history exce pt from an English point of view.The experience of the Welsh, Irish and Scots helps to explain the feeling they have today.T hey were kept out of England by Offa's Dyke , the huge earth wall built in AD 779.

England has always played the most powerful part
in the history of the British Isles. However, the
orhe r three countries, Wa les, Ireland and Scotland,
have a differen t history. Until recently few
historians looked at British history exce pt from an
English point of view. But the stories of Wa les,
Ireland and Sco tland are also important, because
the ir peop le still feel different from the AngloSaxon English. The experience of the Welsh, Irish
and Scots helps to explain the feeling they have
today.
Wales
By th e eight h century most of the Celts had been
driven int o the Welsh peninsula. T hey were kept
out of England by Offa's Dyke , the huge earth wall
built in AD 779. These Celts, ca lled Welsh by the
Anglo-Saxons, called themselves cymr y, "fellow
coun trymen".
Because Wa les is a mountainous country, the cymry
could only live in the crowded valleys. T he rest of
th e land was rocky and too poor for an ything
except keeping animals. For this reason the
popu lation remain ed small. It on ly grew to ove r
half a million in the eigh teenth cen tury. Life was
hard and so was the behaviour of the people.
Slavery was common , as it had been all throu gh
Celtic Britain.
Soc iety was based on family groupings, each of
which owned one or more village or farm
settlemen t. O ne by one in each group a strong
leader made h imself king. These men must have
been tribal chiefs to begin with , who later managed
to become overlords over neigh bouring family
groups. Each of these kings tried ro conquer the
othe rs, and the idea of a high , or senior, king
developed.
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Wales and its Celric kingdoms.
The early kings trave lled around th eir kingdoms to
remind the people of the ir control. They travelled
with their hungry followers and soldiers. The
ordinary people ran away into the hills and woods
when the king's men approac hed their village.
Life was dangerous, treac herous and bloody. In
1043 the king of G lamorgan died of old age. It was
an unusual event, because between 949 and 1066
no less than thirty-five Welsh rulers died violently,
usually killed by a cym ry, a fellow countryman .
In 1039 Gruffydd ap (son of) L1ewelyn was the first
Welsh high king strong enough to rule over all
Wales. He was also the last, and in order to remain
in control he spent almost the who le of his reign
fighting his ene mies. Like man y ot her We lsh rulers,
Gruffvdd was killed by a cymry while defending'
Wales against the Saxo ns. Welsh kings after him
were able to rule only after the y had promised
loyalty to Edward the Confessor, king of England.
The story of an independent and uni ted Wa les was
over almost as soon as it had begun.