Nelson & His World

Many thanks, Ed, for that inventive and most attractive greeting.

I do hope we can regain some of our momentum in the coming year. A small forum like ours needs a driving force to keep it lively, a commitment that I'm not in a position to give at the moment; but Nil Desperandum! Let's hope for a following wind in the new year. Greetings to all for 2015!

A Prosperous and Peaceful 2015 to all members.

As Ed, like me, is a resident of Wales, perhaps I should have added a New Year greeting in Welsh -

- Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!

Anna,

I bet you had to look that up!

Not at all! My grandchildren are learning Welsh at school and take pleasure in teaching me Welsh expressions and correcting my pronounciation. I should have added 'Nadolig Llawen' to my Christmas greetings. (Look it up, Kester!)

My apologies.

So is Welsh spoken, rather than English, or are they on an equal footing?

The grandchildren have Welsh lessons in school and enjoy showing off their Welsh but the main teaching language is English. There are schools where the teaching medium is Welsh.

- Blwyddyn Newydd Dda, by the way, is pronounced BLOO-WITH-IN NE-WITH THA (the th sound is voiced as in THAT.)

Can I give this a Nelsonian twist? How many of Nelson's captains were Welsh? Foley was, I think.

Anna,

Thank you.

Yes, Foley was born near Narberth in South Wales in 1757. As to your other question I have no idea, but it might be interesting to find out.

Incidentally, according to Victory's muster roll, there were nine Welshmen aboard the ship at Trafalgar.