Languages in Wales and Monmouthshire
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In 1801, for the first time, under the provisions of the Act governing the Census of that year, the information required from Occupiers in Wales and in Monmouthshire included a statement for each person respecting the "Language Spoken," viz., whether "English," "Welsh," or "English and Welsh." An examination of the returns convinced our predecessors that there was an undue tendency at that time to credit mere infants with the ability to speak Welsh and to return others as speaking Welsh only who could speak both English and Welsh. In order to obviate an over-statement of the Welsh-speaking population from the former cause, children under two years of age were excluded from the classification in 1891, and the Act for the more recent Census of 1901 confined the requirement as to language spoken to the population aged three years or upwards. A complete comparison, therefore, of the figures for 1901 with those for the preceding Census cannot be instituted, but the following are the proportions of the population of Wales and Monmouthshire aged two years and upwards in 1891, and aged three years and upwards in 1901, who were returned as able to speak English only, Welsh only, or both English and Welsh. The proportions of those speaking other languages and those as to whom no statement was made are added to account for the entire population of the ages mentioned: — How far the variations in the proportions may be due to the exclusion of children between 2 and 3 years of age at the later Census or to an actual change as regards the numbers of the population speaking Welsh and English respectively cannot be determined with certainty. It may be pointed out, however, that, on the assumption that the inclusion in 1891, and the exclusion in 1901, of the children between 2 and 3 years of age did not materially affect the proportions of the Welsh-speaking population—whether speaking Welsh only or both Welsh and English—such proportion declined from 54.0 per cent. in 1891 to 49.9 per cent. in 1901, while the proportion of the English-speaking population —whether speaking English only or both English and Welsh—rose from 68.9 to 84.6 per cent. It may also be remarked here that the proportion of the population enumerated in Wales and Monmouthshire who were born elsewhere has increased successively from 11.3 per cent. in 1871 to 13.4 per cent. in 1881, 15.8 per cent. in 1891, and 16.1 per cent. in 1901. The actual numbers of the population of Wales and Monmouthshire aged 3 years and upwards returned in 1901 as able to speak English only, Welsh only, &c., are as follows:— Disregarding the insignificant number of persons as to whom no statement respecting language spoken was given, the figures show that, while 929,824 persons were returned as Welsh-speaking, the much larger..number of 1,577,141 were returned as English-speaking, the number who speak Welsh to those who speak English being in the ratio of 100 to 170.1
It has been shown that, in Wales and Monmouthshire together, 49.9 per cent. of the population aged 3 years and upwards were returned in 1901 as speaking Welsh, viz., 34.8 per cent. as speaking both Welsh and English, and l5.1 per cent. Welsh only. In the following Table are given the proportions for Monmouthshire, South Wales, and North Wales, separately, and it will be seen that, while the proportion of those who speak Welsh is only 13.0 per cent. in Monmouthshire (including 0.7 per cent. who speak Welsh only), it rises to 50.0 per cent. in South Wales (including 12.5 per cent. who speak Welsh only), and to 71.5 per cent. in North Wales (including 30.0 per cent. who speak Welsh only):— The figures for South Wales are, of course, largely affected by the two populous towns of Cardiff and Swansea which attract large numbers of people from England and elsewhere. The following Table, however, exhibits the proportions for each individual County, the Counties being arranged according to their geographical position:— It will be observed that the Counties in which Welsh is most spoken (i.e.
whether Welsh only or both Welsh and English) are Merionethshire, Anglesey and Carnarvonshire in North Wales, where the proportions of the population who speak Welsh are 93.7, 91.7 and 89.5 per cent. respectively; and Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire in South Wales where the proportions are 93.0 and 90.3 per cent. respectively. More than 50 per cent. of the population in Merionethshire and Cardiganshire were returned as speaking Welsh only, the next highest proportions of monoglot Welsh in the population being 48.0 per cent. in Anglesey, 47.6 per cent. in Carnarvonshire and 35.6 in Carmarthenshire. The two Counties in which the proportions of the Welsh-speaking in the population are lowest are the border Counties of Radnor and Monmouth, while the next lowest proportion is in the County of Pembroke where the Dockyard would attract English workmen and where, in the time of Henry I., as remarked in the Census Report for 1891, a considerable colony of Flemings was established whose descendants became Anglicised, causing the neighbourhood in which they settled to be known as "Little England beyond Wales." Speaking generally, the highest and lowest proportions of the Welsh-speaking are in those Counties which are respectively most distant from, and nearest to, the English border. As might be expected, it is in the rural parts of Wales that the Welsh Language is mostly spoken. Taking the same three Counties in North Wales and two Counties in South Wales just mentioned, and dividing them into Urban and Rural Districts, we obtain the following figures:— Thus, in the Urban Districts of Carnarvonshire, the proportion of the population speaking Welsh was 81.2 per cent. (including 23.5 per cent. speaking Welsh only), while in the Rural Districts the proportion was no less than 96.6 per cent. (including 67.9 per cent. speaking Welsh only). In Merionethshire the proportions in Urban and Rural Districts were more nearly equal being 92.6 per cent. in Urban Districts and 94.6 per cent. in Rural Districts, but the proportion in this County speaking Welsh only was 58.6 per cent. in Rural Districts against only 40.9 per cent. in Urban Districts. Of the 105 Urban Districts in the whole of Wales and Monmouthshire, there were 50 in which 50 per cent. or more of the population aged three years and upwards were returned as speaking Welsh, either Welsh only or Welsh and English; and of the 74 Rural Districts, there were 52 of which the same may be said. While this is true of Welsh-speaking population, it may be pointed out that, in no fewer than 102 of the same 105 Urban Districts and in 51 of the same 74 Rural Districts, more than 50 per cent. of the population were returned as speaking English, whether English only or both English and Welsh. Table 40, relating to Languages, in the several Welsh County Volumes and in the Volume for Monmouthshire exhibits on this occasion, the numbers; of each sex at five groups of ages who were returned as speaking English, Welsh, &c. The proportions of the two sexes, as shown in the following Table, do not differ much. If we take the proportions speaking Welsh, whether Welsh only or both Welsh and English, we find that in North Wales the proportion of Males is 71.9 per cent. and of Females 71.0; in South Wales the proportion of Males is 49.3 per cent. and of Females 50.7; and in Monmouthshire the proportions of the two sexes are almost identical:— We may now examine the figures relating to the Welsh-speaking population at tions of several groups of ages. Table 40, just referred to, gives the numbers in every Urban and Rural District of each County, but for the present purpose it will suffice to show here the figures for the whole of Wales and Monmouthshire:— It will be observed that the proportion of the population who speak English only is reduced at every successive group of ages without exception, falling from 56.7 per cent. at the age-group 3 and under 15 years to 51.7 per cent. at the next age-group, 15 and under 25 years, and so on to 35.5 per cent. at 65 years and upwards. The proportion of those who speak Welsh only, on the contrary, rises from age-group to age-group except at that of 15 and under 25 years, where it shows a considerable drop from the group 3 and under 15 years. This appears to indicate that the children who speak Welsh only in their very early ages learn to speak English at school, while the gradual rise in the proportion at the successive age-groups may be due to a lack of this advantage in by-gone times which has prevented the population from learning English, or at any rate from learning the language sufficiently to justify them, in their opinion, in returning themselves as speaking it. Taking all who speak Welsh, whether Welsh only or both Welsh and English, their proportion in the population rises at each successive age-group from 43.0 per cent. at ages 3 and under 15 years to 64.3 per cent. at ages 65 years and upwards. The figures generally seem to point to some falling off in the proportion of the Welsh-speaking population, but we must wait for comparative figures which the next Census may give before attempting to draw any definite conclusions on the subject. In North Wales alone, the range of proportions of the Welsh-speaking in the population, i.e.,
of those who speak Welsh only or both Welsh and English, at the several age-groups is much less; for, while the highest proportion is 78.6 per cent. at 65 years and upwards, the proportion is no less than 67.5 per cent. at 3 and under 15 years and 70.5 per cent. at the next age-group 15 and under 25 years. In this stronghold of the Welsh-speaking, therefore, the figures show a very high proportion of the rising generation who speak Welsh. The figures may, and probably do, err on the side of over-statement, but there is sufficient evidence that Welsh is spoken by a large proportion of the population; in fact, anyone travelling in Wales, especially in the remoter districts, cannot but be impressed by the frequency with which he hears the native language spoken by the people when conversing amongst themselves in their homes or elsewhere. In order to ascertain whether a large proportion of the children aged 3 and under 15 years who speak Welsh only are of the earliest years of this age-group, the numbers at the individual years of age under 10 years have been abstracted for the Administrative County of Merioneth with the following result:— It will be noticed that, not unnaturally, the proportions of monoglot Welsh in both Urban and Rural Districts are high for ages 3 to 6 years inclusive, and that in Urban Districts there is a considerable drop at the ages of 7 years onwards with some irregularity, while in the Rural Districts the decline in the proportions is more gradual. As regards those speaking both Welsh and English, there is in the Urban Districts a notable rise in the proportion at the age of 7 years corresponding to the decline in the proportion of those speaking Welsh only at the same age. In the Rural Districts the series of proportions is more irregular, but the general tendency is to rise with advancing ages. It may be interesting to conclude these observations with a comparative statement of the proportions of the several populations of Wales and Monmouthshire, Scotland, Ireland, and the Isle of Man who, according to their Censuses of 1901, speak some form of the ancient languages of those countries:— Wales and Monmouthshire thus show a marked pre-eminence in respect of the proportion of the population who speak the ancient language as well as English, then follow in the order named, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and Scotland; but while, according to the returns, 15.1 per cent. of the population of Wales and Monmouthshire speak Welsh only, less than 1 per cent. of the populations of Scotland and Ireland speak only Gaelic and Irish respectively, and a very much smaller proportion of the population of the Isle of Man speak Manx only. In some parts of Scotland and Ireland, however, as in some parts of Wales, the ancient languages are much more spoken; for, in the province of Munster 25.7 per cent. of the population speak Irish (whether Irish only or Irish and English), and in that of Connaught 38.0 per cent.; while in the Scotch Counties of Argyll, Inverness, Sutherland, and Ross & Cromarty more than 50 per cent. of the population speak Gaelic (whether Gaelic only or Gaelic and English), the proportion reaching 71.7 and 71.8 per cent. in the two Counties last named. 1
Exclusive of Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire the numbers returned were as follows:— Thus, in the more essentially Welsh Counties, 549,242 persons were returned as Welsh-speaking, and, 570,827 as English-speaking, the number who speak Welsh to those who speak English being in the ratio of 100 to 104.X.—LANGUAGES IN WALES AND MONMOUTHSHIRE.
Proportions of English-speaking and Welsh-speaking populations 1891 and 1901
WALES AND MONMOUTHSHIRE.
Language Spoken.
Proportion per cent. of the Population.
Aged 2 years and upwards, 1891.
Aged 3 years and upwards, 1901.
English only
45.0
49.8
Welsh only
30.1
15.1
Both English and Welsh
23.9
34.8
Other languages
0.2
0.2
No statement
0.8
0.1
Numbers of English-speaking and Welsh-speaking populations
English only
928,222
Welsh only
280,905
Both English and Welsh
648,919
Other languages
3,893
No statement
2,757
Local distribution of English-speaking and Welsh-speaking populations
Language Spoken.
Proportion per cent. of the Population aged 3 years and upwards.
Monmouthshire
and the
County Borough of Newport.South Wales (including the County Boroughs
of Cardiff and Swansea).North Wales.
English only
86.8
49.5
28.4
Welsh only
0.7
12.5
30.0
English and Welsh
12.3
37.5
41.5
Proportions per cent. of the Population aged Three Years and upwards.
Language Spoken.
English only
Welsh only
Both English and Welsh
Administrative County of Monmouth together with County Borough of Newport
86.8
0.7
12.3
Administrative Counties of South Wales:
Glamorgan together with County Boroughs of Cardiff and Swansea
55.8
6.6
36.9
Carmarthen
9.5
35.6
54.7
Pembroke
65.4
11.9
22.5
Cardigan
6.7
50.4
42.6
Brecknock
54.0
9.3
36.6
Radnor
93.6
0.2
6.0
Administrative Counties of North Wales:
Montgomery
52.5
15.6
31.9
Merioneth
6.2
50.6
43.1
Flint
50.8
7.5
41.6
Denbigh
38.0
18.3
43.6
Carnarvon
10.3
47.6
41.9
Anglesey
8.0
48.0
43.7
Proportion of population speaking Welsh in Urban Districts and in Rural Districts
Administrative Counties.
Proportion per cent. of the Population aged 3 years and upwards in Urban and Rural Districts returned as able to speak—
English only.
Welsh only.
(a) English, or (b) Welsh.
(a) English:—viz., either English only, or both English and Welsh.
(b) Welsh:—viz., either Welsh only, or both Welsh and English.
Urban Districts.
Rural Districts.
Urban Districts.
Rural Districts.
Urban Districts.
Rural Districts.
Urban Districts.
Rural Districts.
Merionethshire
7.3
5.3
40.9
58.6
59.0
41.3
92.6
94.6
Anglesey
17.0
3.9
18.5
61.4
80.8
38.5
82.3
96.0
Carnarvonshire
18.6
3.3
23.5
67.9
76.3
32.0
81.2
96.6
Cardiganshire
16.7
3.2
15.2
62.8
84.5
36.9
83.0
96.5
Carmarthenshire
17.0
6.1
12.4
46.3
87.5
53.6
82.9
93.8
Proportions of Males and of Females speaking Welsh
Language Spoken.
Proportion per cent. of the Male and Female Populations aged 3 years and upwards respectively.
Monmouthshire
and the
County Borough of Newport.South Wales (including the
County Boroughs of
Cardiff and Swansea).North Wales.
English only
{
Males
86.6
50.0
27.9
Females
86.9
49.0
28.9
Welsh only
{
Males
0.7
11.6
31.0
Females
0.7
13.3
29.0
English and Welsh
{
Males
12.3
37.7
40.9
Females
12.2
37.4
42.0
Proportions of persons at various ages speaking Welsh
Language Spoken.
Proportions per cent. of the Population at several Groups of Ages 3 years and upwards.
Total at
3 years and
upwards.3—
15—
25—
45—
65 and upwards
English only
49.8
56.7
51.7
48.7
41.2
35.5
Welsh only
15.1
15.8
10.4
12.6
19.9
29.6
English and Welsh
34.8
27.2
37.4
38.2
38.7
34.7
Proportions of children at various ages speaking Welsh only
Years of Age.
Proportion per cent. of Children at several ages in Urban and
Rural Districts returned as able to speakEnglish only.
Welsh only.
(a) English, or (b) Welsh.
(a) English:—viz., either English only, or both English and Welsh.
(b) Welsh:—viz., either Welsh only, or both Welsh and English.
Urban
Districts.Rural
Districts.Urban
Districts.Rural
Districts.Urban
Districts.Rural
Districts.Urban
Districts.Rural
Districts.3—
7.7
6.1
71.1
87.0
28.5
12.4
91.9
93.3
4—
8.0
5.7
71.8
85.6
28.3
14.4
92.1
94.3
5—
5.9
6.1
67.1
82.3
32.9
17.7
94.1
93.9
6—
5.4
5.2
66.1
80.4
33.9
19.6
94.6
94.8
7—
6.8
4.6
56.4
75.5
43.6
24.5
93.2
95.4
8—
5.5
4.3
53.9
70.2
46.1
29.8
94.5
95.7
9—
5.5
4.1
46.9
68.2
52.6
31.8
94.0
95.9
10—15
4.3
3.5
33.4
56.0
66.6
43.9
95.7
96.4
Proportions speaking ancient languages in the several divisions of the United Kingdom
—
Language Spoken.
Proportions per cent of
the Population aged 3 years
and upwards.Wales and Monmouthshire
{
Welsh only
15.1
Welsh and English
34.8
Scotland
{
Gaelic only
0.7
Gaelic and English
4.9
Ireland*
{
Irish only
0.5
Irish and English
13.9
Isle of Man
{
Manx only
0.1
Manx and English
8.9
*
The figures for Ireland relate to the population without any restriction as regards age.
English only
247,984
Welsh only
226,399
Both English and Welsh
322,843
Other languages
375
No statement
833