Wales and the Welsh have contributed much throughout history. Welsh bowmen were sought after soldiers in every king's army. Many a Welsh bowman have won the battle.
They provided the men of the 24th Regiment of Foot, the South Wales Borderers of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift.
In song and music the voices of a Welsh choir is a performance of true enjoyment.
The list is endless but the one thing that stands out in Welsh history that symbolises true Welsh heritage and pride is a thorn and that thorn has been in the side of the english for centuries.
Only in Ireland is there more castles and tower houses built by the english kings to control those they had conquered.
It was Rhys ap Gruffydd, Lord Rhys, who first set that thorn into the side of King Henry II and it was Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, Llywellyn the Great, his grandson, Llywelyn ap Gruffidd, the first Prince of Wales and Owain Glyndwr who kept that thorn bleeding into the sides of Edward I ( the Hammer of the Scots) and King Henry IV. Not until King Henry VIII did Wales return to equal status amoung men when Henry VIII, being quarter Welsh, presented the Acts of Union in 1536 and 1543. The thorn was removed or was it! It's still there, in words, every time "Men of Harlech" is sang, it's still there and the day the Welsh have their own independence is the day the Welsh will remove it.
