Gaelic Speakers

[McClef]

The Lowland surname Wallace comes from the Anglo-Saxon Wealisc meaning "foreign". (Incidentally, this is where the word Wales comes from!)

2) DAVIS. Davis (also Davies) is one of the most common names in Wales. (McClef could testify to this for sure!) It means "son of David" and would be "Ap Dafydd" (pronounced AP DAV-ITH) in Welsh. (Ap corresponds to Mac)

Yes indeed - Wales means "land of the stranger" and probably refers to what once was an all-encompassing tongue which was unintelligible to English speakers Only the educated Welsh would have spoken English, such as Brother Cadfael.

Cymru (Kumree) is its Welsh name The name Cymru is thought to derive from an old Brythonic word "combroges", meaning "compatriots", and derives from the struggle with the Anglo-Saxons.

Davis/Davies is a common surname (not as much as Jones or Evans though). You sometimes see Davieson as a variant also.

Many cultures have used "son of" as a surname. "Mac/Mc" in Gaelic, "Ben" in Hebrew, "Bin/Ibn" in Arabic, "Son/sson" in Scandinavian cultures etc.

[slohairt]

Of course only the educated would speak English!:rolleyes:
Ah, Brother Cadfael...

Cymru probably did encompass all of Britain (or at least southern britain). I believe Cornwall was once called West Wales, was it not?

I took Celtic Studies in university and many courses did cover Wales and the other Celtic nations. Unfortunately, most of the emphasis was on Ireland and Scotland. In fact, I've noticed that many Celtic festivals here in North America seem to be Irish-Scottish festivals in actuality. You couldn't even call them Gaelic festivals because they forget the poor little Manxman! Wales, Brittany, Cornwall, and of course, the Isle of Man often seem to be neglected.
I do recall one exception. I was at a Celtic festival in a small town called Goderich and they actualy had a Breton band! Later, I heard people say "Breton?" I thought that was a cracker?

[McClef]

Of course only the educated would speak English!:rolleyes:
Ah, Brother Cadfael...

Cymru probably did encompass all of Britain (or at least southern britain). I believe Cornwall was once called West Wales, was it not?

Perhaps I phrased it badly :rolleyes: Welsh was predominant and there wasnt much need to learn English given how far many people travelled in their lifetimes. Rich and powerful families who had connections outside of Wales would know and use English as would those who travelled outside of Wales as Cadfael did with his Crusader history before he became a monk.

I haven't heard of Cornwall being called that I'm afraid and google was no help.