Defacing "Cofiwch Dryweryn" Slogan Backfires

News from the Celtic League:

The article below comes from the Celtic League. They draw attention to the massive reaction across Wales to the vandalism of the stone wall with the words "Cofiwch Dryweryn" ("Remember Trweryn") painted on it. The stone has become a memorial to the decision to permanently flood the Welsh village of Capel Celyn to create a reservoir for the English Liverpool City Council in the early 1960s. At the time this decision increased support for Welsh nationalist organisations which has continued to have a major impact on Welsh politics.  The attack on the "Cofiwch Dryweryn" wall has been identified correctly for what it is. A targeted anti-Welsh campaign to destroy a symbol of the country’s language, heritage and culture. However, as the Celtic League item points out, it has had the opposite impact, galvanising communities all over Wales:

DEFACING TRYWERYN SLOGAN BACKFIRES

Defacing a Welsh National symbol has backfired with copycat slogans appearing all over Wales (read on):

"Cofiwch Dryweryn. These words – “Remember Tryweryn” – crudely scrawled on a wall near Aberystwyth in the 1960s, serve as a memorial for Capel Celyn, the Welsh-speaking village that was flooded to provide water for Liverpool, some 67 miles away, in 1965.

"Liverpool city council officially apologised for its actions 40 years later, in 2005, but the mural commemorates a painful and pivotal period in Welsh history which had far-reaching consequences for Welsh politics, including the significant loss of Labour seats to the nationalist party, Plaid Cymru, in 1966. It could be argued that if Capel Celyn hadn’t been drowned, the Welsh assembly wouldn’t have been established just over 30 years later. That’s what “Cofiwch Dryweryn” stands for.

"Over the last few days and weeks, the wall has been defaced, obscured and even partly demolished. Although there are no clues to why, or who is responsible, it’s clear that this isn’t mindless vandalism – this is a targeted anti-Welsh campaign to destroy a symbol of the country’s language, heritage and culture. But whatever the intentions of the perpetrators of this hate crime, they could scarcely have imagined the impact that it’s had on galvanising communities all over Wales. Now copycat “Cofiwch Dryweryn” graffiti is popping up all over the country – in Bridgend, Swansea, Llangollen, and Flintshire. There’s even demand for “Cofiwch Dryweryn” T-shirts."

Full report here in the Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/…/welsh-vandalism-nationhood-fl…

Related link:

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/…/amazing-way-wales-hit-back-16…