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 AN OUTLINE OF WELSH POLITICAL HISTORY

INFLUENCES UNDER WHICH THE HISTORY OF WALES WAS FORMED

1. The nature of its rocks—Igneous, Cambrian, Silurian, Old Red Sandstone, Limestone, Coal—all belonging to the Primary Period. Its rocks


 * (a) explain its scenery;


 * (b) explain its wealth, the richest part of Britain in minerals.

2. The configuration of its surface.


 * (a) It is isolated, its mountains being surrounded by the sea, or rising sharply from the plains. It is part of the range of mountains which runs along the whole of the west coast of Britain; but the range is broken at the mouth of the Severn and at the mouth of the Dee.


 * (b) It is divided, its valleys and roads radiating in all directions. So we have in its history


 * A. Wars of Independence.


 * B. Civil War.

THE PEOPLE WHO CAME INTO WALES

1. The Iberians—a general name for the short dark people who still form the greater part of the nations. They had stone weapons, and lived in tribes; they became subject to later invaders, but gradually became free. Their language is lost.

2. The Celts—a tall fair-haired race, speaking an Aryan tongue. It was their migration that was stopped by the rise of Rome. Four Rh