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The Purpose of the Welsh Note

Welsh language and it's social domains.

Chapter: The Welsh language and the blue books of 1847

Garath Elwyn Jones

• P438(pdf:455): "Criticisms of the educational method, however, carry a wider signifigence. Debate still rages as to the advisability of the total immersion method of language teaching; in the context of teacher ignorance of the English language on this scale...a method which wholely excluded use of the Welsh language was almost completely counter productive... in such a context, Johnson regarded the use of the infamous Welsh Not as positively harmfull..."
• P444(pdf:461):"...because the kind of total immersion in English that the parents and teachers desired was itself ineffectual. Some kind of bilingual approach was essential..."

Chapter: The British state and Welsh language education 1850-1914.

Dr W. Gareth Evans (1939–2000) was, at the time of his death, reader in the Department of Education at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Appears to he described as an historian at biography.wales but the website is down. Has written history of education book.

• P468(pdf:485): "In order to promote fluency in the English language amongst Welsh children, it was believed essential to that the native language be proscribed in schools." (note: bad context, HMI and is this talking about Welsh medium education or zero Welsh language.
• P470(pdf:487): "English was regarded as the essential vehicle for material advancement, teachers and parents in Victorian Wales...viewed the imposition of the Welsh Not and the exclusion of the Welsh language from the classroom as essential for the effective promotion of the English language.

Wales: England's colony?

• P102 "Moreover, many teachers recognised that punishing children for speaking Welsh did not actually work in helping them with their English".

• The "did not actually work" part means they intended it to work and it failed.
• The Welsh Not was only used as an instrument of punishment for speaking Welsh. It wasn't used for any other purpose.
• Therefore it's correct to say that the Welsh Not was used for helping them with their English.
• A teacher helping children to learn a language is called teaching. We may not like the idea of punishment to inforce a total language immersion teaching method but that's what it was.

• P100 "In this example [of the use of a Welsh Not], it is also notable that it was only for older children, which again illustrates the growing realisation of the need to use Welsh to teach English"

• So they stopped using the Welsh Not for younger children because it wasn't working to teach English.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia:Five_pillars

"The fundamental principles of Wikipedia may be summarized in five "pillars" (principles):"

The second of which is...

Wikipedia is written from a neutral point of view
We strive for articles in an impartial tone that document and explain major points of view, giving due weight for their prominence...

"document and explain major points of view" links to Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view

First paragraph...

All encyclopedic content on Wikipedia must be written from a neutral point of view (NPOV), which means representing fairly, proportionately, and, as far as possible, without editorial bias, all the significant views that have been published by reliable sources on a topic.

NPOV is a fundamental principle of Wikipedia and of other Wikimedia projects. It is also one of Wikipedia's three core content policies; the other two are "Verifiability" and "No original research". These policies jointly determine the type and quality of material that is acceptable in Wikipedia articles, and, because they work in harmony, they should not be interpreted in isolation from one another. Editors are strongly encouraged to familiarize themselves with all three.

This policy is non-negotiable, and the principles upon which it is based cannot be superseded by other policies or guidelines, nor by editor consensus.

"published by reliable sources" links to: Wikipedia:Verifiability#What_counts_as_a_reliable_source

Which includes this line...

If available, academic and peer-reviewed publications are usually the most reliable sources in topics such as history, medicine, and science.

end

When and where the Welsh Not was used

There have been no comprehensive studies to determine how many schools used the Welsh Not. So the evidence we have is fragmentary.

The 1847 Inquiry into Schools in Wales came across only one school using it.

The school log books that have been examined suggest only in use for a short time period, wasn't intended to entirely exclude the use of Welsh from schools and that it was mostly used before 1870.

Welsh historian John Davies says in his book A History of Wales (1993) that "it is unlikely that the use of the 'Welsh Note' was as widespread as the mythology of the twentieth century maintains".

The 1847 'Blue Book' reports

"Cannot get the children from the habit of talking in Welsh; the school as a whole is backward in English."

British School, Aberaeron, Log book. 5 November, 1880.

The Welsh Not had virtually ceased being used by the time the government's state of education in Wales inquiry "Blue Books" reports were published in 1847 (years later these became known in Wales as the "Treachery of the Blue Books").

Of the 1,656 schools in Wales surveyed during the inquiry, the language of instruction for 1,321 was English only, for 325 it was English and Welsh, for two it was Welsh only and for eight unknown. There is some doubt that one of the two Welsh-only schools was in fact a Welsh-only school.

Virtually all of the schools surveyed taught English and 80 % used English for all of their lessons. Some schools banned the use of Welsh in the classroom and playground in an attempt to force children to use and become proficient in English. The teaching of Welsh was generally left to Sunday schools.

The inquiry found that the quality of schools in Wales was poor (in common with the equivalent findings for England). They suffered from inadequate buildings, untrained teachers and an almost complete lack of suitable books. Many children did not go to school at all and those that did were often absent for long periods. The inquiry found that many schools were attempting to teach English without translating from Welsh and as a result the children did not know the meaning of the words they were learning. They also came across one school using a Welsh Not. The inquiry condemned its use as educational nonsense and something that would teach children to be dishonest.

The inquiry's report was controversial because of the comments it also made about Welsh society and the Welsh language. However, its support for the teaching of English in Wales received general support from the Welsh public and parents.

Other stuff

At the time of the inquiry education was not compulsory and schools were largely provided and run by religious institutions, charities and private ventures. Charity schools were either aligned to a particular religious denomination (for example the Church of England) or were non-demoninational (for example British Schools), they were setup by local committees who raised charitable donations to construct the school and were then run by a committees of charitable subscribers. Two voluntary societies were started in the early 1800s to encourage and aid in the setting up of charitable schools, The British Schools Society and the National Society. These societies collected charitable contributions which they used to provided grants to help with the construction of local schools, trained teachers and produced school books.

Glamorgan, Carmarthen and Pembroke

90 quality of buildings

92 attendance of children

93 language of instruction

96 training of teachers

Brecon, Cardigan and Radnor

212 attendance of children

238 quality of buildings

245 language language of instruction

247 training of teachers

Monmouthshire

369 attendance of children

373 training of teachers

377 school income

378 quality of buildings

380 language of instruction

Anglesey, Caernarfon, Denbigh, Flint, Merioneth and Montgomery

422 types of schools

427 language of instruction

434 quality of schools

464 training of teachers

467 visitation

excluded schools

page 1

page 209

page 421

page 254 the one school teaching Welsh

---Government policy---

In 1830 education wasn't compulsory and parents had to pay for their children to go to school, many children did not go to school because of the cost or because there wasn't a school near them or because they needed to work. Schools were set up and run by National society, the British society, charities and private businesses.

The Government role was limited to providing some financial assistance for the education of poor children. This started in 1833 with partial support for the cost of constructing new school buildings for poor children. This was extended in 1840 to the cost of paying some teachers.

To ensure that the grants were being spent properly it started the annual inspection of schools that had or were receiving government grants.

In 1865 a new system was introduced where the annual inspection also included testing the pupils in English and mathematics. Poor results in these tests would affect the teacher's wages.

In 1870 The Education Act created locally elected school boards who were tasked with creating extra schools where there was a need and also gave them the power to create bylaws to force children between the ages of 5-13 to go to school. The Act did not specify what subjects to teach or what language to use when teaching.

---end---

History

ref park.

Welsh schools and the English language.

Of the 1,419 schools in Wales surveyed in the 1847 report, the language of instruction for 1,321 was English only, for 96 it was English & Welsh and for 2 it was Welsh only. There is some doubt that one of the two Welsh only schools was in fact a Welsh only school. The learning of English was demanded by the public, parents, teachers & schools. It was seen as the language of advancement, commerce, trade and science. The teaching of Welsh was left to Sunday schools.

So 99.9% of the schools surveyed taught in English and the vast majority (93%) of them did not just teach English but also used English for all of their lessons Some schools banned the use of Welsh in the classroom & playground in an attempt to force children to use and become proficient in English.

The 1847 educational report into Welsh schools found that the quality of schools was awful. Poor buildings, untrained teachers & an almost complete absence of suitable books. Many children did not go to school at all and those that did were often absent for long periods. The report found that some schools were attempting to teach English without translating from Welsh and as a result the children did not know the meaning of the words they were learning. They also came across one school using a Welsh Not. The report condemned its use as educational nonsense and something that would teach children to be dishonest.

The report was controversial because of the comments it made about Welsh society and, to a lesser degree, the comments it made about the Welsh language. However its support for the teaching of English in Wales was agreed with by the Welsh public.

Schools in parts of England were as bad.

Prior to 1870 schools in England and Wales were either provided by voluntary societies ( National & British) or secular (private businesses). The government started to support the schooling of poor children

The government provided partial grants for building new schools for poor children but was otherwise uninvolved in teaching the nation’s children, it did not require children to go to school and was not involved in the running of schools.

The 1870 England and Wales Education act created locally elected school boards who were tasked to supervise schools and ensure there were enough school places for their local children. They were also given the power to pass local laws to force children to go to school.

The Welsh Not

The Welsh Not was a token normally made of wood which was given to a child caught speaking Welsh in school. It would be passed to the next child caught speaking Welsh. The child still holding the token at the end of the day, or week, might be punished, detention and ‘flogging’ are mentioned in contemporary accounts.

How many schools used this device is unknown. Not all schools banned the use of Welsh.

Contemporary descriptions

““The school master in my parish, for instance, amongst the common Welsh people has a little toy on a little bit of wood, and on the wood is written “Welsh not” that is to say they must not speak Welsh; it is a mark, and they pass this mark one to another. The rule of the school is that there is no Welsh to be spoken in the school; if anybody speaks a word of Welsh he is to have the Welsh mark, which he is to carry about his neck, or to hold it in his hand. There is the greatest anxiety to catch one another speaking Welsh, and there is a cry out immediately, “Welsh not”.” November 1843. Inquiry for South Wales. Reverend R. Bowen Jones.

“My attention was attracted to a piece of wood, suspended by a string round a boy’s neck, and on the wood were the words “Welsh stick”.This I was told was a stigma for speaking Welsh. But in fact his only alternative was to speak Welsh or to say nothing. He did not understand English, and there is no systematic exercise in interpretation. The Welsh stick, or Welsh, as it’s sometimes called, is given too any pupil who is overheard speaking Welsh, and may be transferred by him to any schoolfellow whom he hears committing a similar offence. It is thus passed from one another until the close of the week, when the pupil in who’s possession the Welsh is found is punished by flogging. Among other injurious effects, this custom has been found to lead children to visit stealthily the houses of their schoolfellows for the purposes of detecting those who speak Welsh to their parents, and transferring to them the punishment due to themselves” Reports of the commissioners of inquiry into the state of education in Wales 1848 Page 452

"Endeavoured to compel the children to converse in English by means of a piece of wood. Offenders to be shut in after school hours.” Extract from the Llansantffraid Board School log book. 8 February 1870.[1]

Irish Famine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Graph:Chart

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_(Ireland)

1842 2,538 280 +2,258 20 1843 3,206 74 +3,132 3 1844 2,801 150 +2,651 5 1845 3,252 147 +3,105 34 1846 1,826 987 +839 614 1847 970 4,519 -3,549 3,287 1848 1,953 2,186 -233 1,546 1849 1,437 2,908 -1,471 1,897 1850 1,329 2,357 -1,028 1,159 1851 1,325 3,158 -1,833 1,745

Signs of blight appeared in Ireland in early September 1845. When the main crop of potatoes was dug up in mid October it became clear that there was a major problem. Some of the potatoes were bad when dug up; others which looked healthy were rotting when they had only been stored for a short time. In October the government created a scientific commission to investigate; they reported back in November 1845 that the crop failure was caused by the damp weather during 1845, they recommended several ways of protecting the harvested crop, none of which would turn out to work and they were unable to discover a way of preventing the disease. A survey by the Irish Constabulary found that between a quarter and one third of the potato crop had been lost but that the losses were somewhat mitigated by a larger crop than that of 1844.

Relief Committees

The government created a central relief committee in November 1845 to coordinate the relief operations.

During 1846 hundreds of local relief committees were formed, their job was to raise charitable donations locally and to decide who was eligilble for relief. Those eligible for relief were either put forward for employment on the public works or supplied with food. Food was purchased by the committee using the money donated and either supplied free of charge or at a discount. If it was impossible to raise enough local donations they could apply for a government grant and when the Central Relief Committee opened the government depots they could buy from them at cost.

Public Works

Grain purchases

In November 1845 the government purchased £100,000 of maize and maize meal from America. The purchase was kept secret for 3 months for fear that if it became public knowledge Irish grain traders would reduce their imports to Ireland and Irish landlords would give less to famine relief. Deliveries of this maize arrived in Ireland from February to June 1846. An additional £45,000 was spent purchasing maize and oats from Britain. These purchases amounted to almost 20,000 tons of grain. The primary purpose of these imports was to hold down the price of grain in Ireland during the summer of 1846 when the governnment expected prices to rise, it's secondary purpose was to supply food in locations where there were no private suppliers of grain. The army's commissariat department distributed the grain to local depots they had established throughout Ireland, later additional depots were created and operated by the constabulary and the coastguard. Depot sales were made to local relief committees at cost price. The Central Relief Commission concentrated sales from the depots between 15 May and 15 August 1846 so as to maximise the impact on prices. Some depots had started selling food as early as March 1846 because of a lack of any local suppliers of grain. Non-government imports of maize and maize meal by grain traders increased dramatically during 1846, in the first 11 months of 1846 a total of 122,000 tons had been imported into Ireland.

Repeal of the Corn Law

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