My wife and I went into Wales recently to celebrate my seventy-fifth birthday.
I was struck as ever by the complete collapse of non-conformist Christianity in the country, as shown by the use to which nearly all the former non-conformist chapels are now put. It is easier to find a chapel that is used as a nightclub than for religious purposes, and certainly many have now been converted into what are called ‘luxury apartments’.
Capel Horeb just outside Aberystwyth is a case in point. Above it is a little cemetery, where the writer Caradoc Evans, who died in 1945, is buried. He was one of the most important Welsh writers in English in the 1910s to 1930s, but there is nothing to mark his grave. Certainly, he was once called ‘the most hated man in Wales’ because of his devastating literary exposure of the oppressiveness and hypocrisy of the puritanical non-conformist Christianity of his time, but one would have thought this would have made him a hero to the totally irreligious, probably anti-religious, modern Welsh. His crime was to expose Welsh failings to English eyes. Whether this is so or not, he was a very important and remarkable figure in his time – English was his second language. While he criticised the religion in which he grew up as severely as any religion has ever been criticised, he remained a connoisseur of hellfire sermons to the end of his days.
Much as I would have disliked Welsh religion had I grown up in it and would almost certainly have rebelled against its narrow grip on society, I cannot think of its almost complete disappearance – like that of Catholicism in Ireland – as being only for the good. Religion gave to Welsh life its very strong and unique flavour, and it has been replaced by nothing except a coarse and crude materialism. Of course, the religion is irrecoverable, and I would not wish it to return; but I wish it had been replaced by something much better than what we have.
The nearest thing to a replacement is Welsh nationalism, I suppose. We drove for nearly 200 miles through Wales and did not see a single union flag on my journey, though the Welsh flag was everywhere. This gives the impression of United Kingdom having fallen apart – there being no common pride in its history or achievements.
Stopping off in Bala, however, we were struck by the plethora of Palestinian flags outside what was probably the most expensive restaurant there. Plaid Cymry had just called for an economic boycott of Israel. Perhaps Celtic antisemitism could unite Wales with Ireland, rather than with England.
One Response
Could I offer a small ray of hope? I (an Englishman) now live in Wales. Two nearby towns in Carmarthenshire fly the ‘Union Jack’ of the United Kingdom alongside the Red Dragon of Cymru on municipal flagpoles. During the recent D-Day commemorations, Allied flags (Union Flag included) flew in Cardigan and from several houses.