Local Distribution

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Local distribution of the several classes of the population. —We have so far referred to the population of Wales and Monmouthshire as a whole, but it is evident that the distribution of the several classes of the population, in its linguistic aspect, will show considerable variations according to the circumstances of the different parts of the country, and we shall therefore now proceed to compare the statistics of the various local divisions.

Persons speaking English only.— This section of the population is, as has already been shown, more numerous than any other, comprising 53.7 per cent. of the whole. Among the several counties, however, the proportions show some very wide variations, being as low as 7.7 per cent, in Merionethshire, 8.5 per cent. in Anglesey, and 8.7 per cent. in Cardiganshire, and as high as 65.3 per cent. in Pembrokeshire, 86.3 per cent. in Monmouthshire, and 93.4 per cent. in Radnorshire.

TABLE IV. ADMINISTRATIVE COUNTIES AND COUNTY BOROUGHS.—Proportion per 1,000 persons at each age-group speaking English only, 1911; and proportion at all ages, 1901 and 1911.

COUNTIES AND COUNTY BOROUGHS AGES. TOTAL,
3 years and
upwards.
3-5 5-10 10-15 15-25 25-45 45-65 65
and
upwards
1911 1901
Wales and Monmouthshire 590 590 570 571 542 457 386 537 498
                   
Monmouthshire (including County Boroughs) 862 893 898 898 862 793 740 863 867
Monmouth Administrative County 849 880 884 886 841 753 697 842 841
Newport County Borough 917 947 953 944 937 933 903 939 958
Glamorganshire (including County Boroughs) 638 641 626 614 581 509 470 589 559
Glamorgan Administrative County 579 575 549 536 503 409 371 512 448
Cardiff County Borough 870 898 904 908 889 853 806 885 908
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough 591 578 542 505 463 358 309 481 425
Swansea County Borough 755 761 746 709 685 604 542 689 668
                   
Anglesey 86 77 96 86 100 76 49 85 80
Brecknockshire 630 642 637 633 580 457 385 570 540
Cardiganshire 83 68 53 119 105 78 49 87 67
Carmarthenshire 156 129 112 154 149 108 83 134 95
Carnarvonshire 116 100 89 124 145 124 101 122 103
Denbighshire 478 465 441 430 423 361 323 417 380
Flintshire 616 623 617 590 549 473 412 554 508
Merionethshire 65 57 46 79 99 80 62 77 62
Montgomeryshire 612 608 587 581 534 477 431 540 524
Pembrokeshire 655 687 684 699 652 611 542 653 655
Radnorshire 906 961 965 958 930 917 876 934 937

With the three exceptions of Monmouthshire, Pembrokeshire, and Radnorshire, all the counties show an increase since 1901 in the proportions of monoglot English, and in the three exceptions the decreases are insignificant and may be due entirely to the increased numbers "not stated." As regards the age-distribution, it may be observed that those counties with high proportions follow the general rule for the whole of Wales, namely, highest proportions in childhood (up to. 15 years) and decreasing proportions at subsequent successive age-groups; Pembrokeshire, in which the maximum proportion is reached at age 15-25, is the only real exception. On the other hand, in counties with low proportions speaking English only the maxima occur generally at ages 15-45. The case of Anglesey appears somewhat anomalous, but examination of the returns shows that the peculiar rise in the proportion at age 10-15 is due to the inclusion in the county figures of a large number of English boys who were on board a training ship.

The above table shows that the counties fall into two well-defined groups, (1) Anglesey, Carnarvonshire, Merionethshire, Cardiganshire, and Carmarthenshire, in which the persons speaking English only form but a small minority; and (2) Flintshire, Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire, Brecknockshire, Monmouthshire, Glamorganshire, and Pembrokeshire, in which the persons speaking English only outnumber all the other classes of the population. Denbighshire occupies a position between the two groups, the monoglot English being only 41.7 per cent, of the total population. It will be seen that the predominantly Welsh-speaking counties comprise a continuous area extending along the whole of the western half of the Principality—Pembrokeshire being a detached member of the group of predominantly English-speaking counties.

The administrative counties are convenient units for comparison, but Table 3, on pages 47 to 51, which shows the proportions at the censuses of 1901 and 1911 of the various classes of population (without distinction of sex or age) in the several urban and rural districts, indicates how widely the conditions differ within the same county. Thus, Llanrwst Rural District on the western side of Denbighshire had only 55 monoglot English per 1,000, while Chirk Rural District, on the opposite side of the county, had 533; Machynlleth Rural District, on the western side of Montgomeryshire, had only 28 monoglot English per 1,000, while Forden Rural District, on the eastern side, had 895 per 1,000. There is, on the whole, a distinct tendency to greater frequency of monoglot English in urban than in rural districts, but there are many exceptions to the rule; geographical position and other conditions appear to be more important factors than mere aggregation in urban communities. In Monmouthshire, for example, Rhymney Urban District had 387 per 1,000 monoglot English, and a lower figure than that, recorded for any rural district in the county (viz. 831 per 1,000 in St. Mellons Rural District;) was by four other urban districts. In some cases, as in Aberystwyth, Barmouth, Colwyn Bay, and Llandudno the fact of. their being holiday resorts accounts for an excess of monoglot English compared with that in the districts surrounding them; while in Pembrokeshire the two rural districts of Llanfyrnach and St. Dogmells are overwhelmingly Welsh-speaking in contrast to the rest of the county, and these two districts are more closely, connected geographically with the Welsh-speaking county of Cardiganshire, in which, indeed, they are included for poor law purposes. The small county of Radnor is the only one in which the several districts do not show diversity, and in this case they are uniformly English-speaking.

Persons speaking Welsh only. —In this section of the population were included 92,737 males and 97,555 females in 1911, against 137,333 males and 143,572 females in 1901. Thus in the ten years there has been a decline amounting to 90,613 in the number of persons who have been returned as speaking Welsh only, and the proportion to the total population has fallen from 151 to 85 per 1,000. This decline has been shared, though very unequally, by all the thirteen counties, those in which the proportions of monoglot Welsh at both censuses were lowest having on the whole shown the greatest relative decrease.

TABLE V. ADMINISTRATIVE COUNTIES AND COUNTY BOROUGHS.—Proportion per 1,000 persons at each age-group speaking Welsh only, 1911; and proportion at all ages, 1901 and 1911.

Counties and County Boroughs AGES. TOTAL,
3 years and
upwards.
3-5 5-10 10-15 15-25 25-45 45-65 65
and
upwards
1911 1901
Wales and Monmouthshire 130 97 60 46 62 126 224 85 151
                   
Monmouthshire (including County Boroughs) 3 2 2 3 4 7 15 4 7
Monmouth Administrative County 3 3 3 3 5 9 18 5 9
Newport County Borough 1
Glamorganshire (including County Boroughs) 46 27 18 18 25 54 100 31 66
Glamorgan Administrative County 60 34 23 22 31 71 131 39 91
Cardiff County Borough 2 1 1 1 1 2 5 2 2
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough 39 20 17 22 29 68 140 35 73
Swansea County Borough 24 16 11 12 13 32 64 19 33
                   
Anglesey 602 507 296 247 299 400 540 362 480
Brecknockshire 109 67 41 28 41 70 119 56 93
Cardiganshire 599 490 271 177 240 421 593 342 504
Carmarthenshire 402 267 147 107 151 284 436 205 356
Carnarvonshire 578 496 305 225 289 410 542 356 477
Denbighshire 200 126 62 57 70 135 230 101 183
Flintshire 79 34 16 16 22 46 104 34 75
Merionethshire 667 574 316 208 264 437 566 367 506
Montgomeryshire 204 151 81 66 82 116 185 107 156
Pembrokeshire 157 103 51 37 54 99 169 77 119
Radnorshire 3 1 2

As regards the distribution at the several age-groups, the consistent diminution from the first period (3-5 years) to the fourth (15-25 years), and the subsequent increase at each successive period observed for Wales and Monmouthshire as a whole, is found, practically without exception, in each county. In four of the counties over one-third of the population above 3 years of age is returned as speaking Welsh only, and in each of these cases the maximum proportion is at the youngest age-group; in all the remaining counties, except Montgomeryshire, the maximum proportions are at the other extreme of life.

In view of the large decrease in the proportion of monoglot Welsh at all ages, it is interesting to note to what extent the populations at the several ages have contributed to the decline. The ratio percent, of the proportions in 1911 to those in 1901 are shown in the following statement for the whole area, and for the four most predominantly. Welsh-speaking counties:—

COUNTIES Total,
3 years and
upwards.
3-15 15-25 25-45 45-65 65 and
upwards.
Wales and Monmouthshire 56 56 44 49 63 76
             
Anglesey 75 76 63 74 80 86
Cardiganshire 68 70 52 57 74 83
Carnarvonshire 75 77 60 70 79 84
Merionethshire 73 79 58 60 78 85

The greatest proportional decrease, therefore, occurred in the age group 15-25, and a rather smaller decrease in the group 25-45; no separate comparisons can be made for the children between 3 and 5 years, 5 to 10, or 10 to 15, but the whole group from 3 to 15 showed less decrease than either of the two young adult groups in spite of the general instruction in the English language in the schools; among persons over 65 the decrease is, as might be expected,, considerably less than at any of the younger ages.

Persons speaking both English and Welsh. —No general increase such as is shown by the monoglot English, and no general decrease, as in the case of the monoglot Welsh, is observable among the bilingual section of the population. The proportions were almost identical at the two censuses over the whole of Wales and Monmouthshire; but eight counties, including those with the highest proportions in 1901, showed increases, while five—Monmouthshire, Glamorganshire, Brecknockshire, Flintshire and Radnorshire showed decreases. The largest relative increases in the bilingual populations of the several counties occurred in Anglesey, Cardiganshire, Carnarvonshire and Merionethshire—the four counties referred to above as containing the highest proportions of monoglot Welsh; and the largest relative decreases in the two counties, Monmouthshire and Radnorshire, containing the highest proportions of monoglot English.

TABLE VI. ADMINISTRATIVE COUNTIES AND COUNTY BOROUGHS.—Proportion per 1,000 persons at each age-group speaking both Welsh and English, 1911; and proportion at all ages, 1901 and 1911.

Counties and County Boroughs AGES. TOTAL,
3 years and
upwards.
3-5 5-10 10-15 15-25 25-45 45-65 65
and
upwards
1911 1901
Wales and Monmouthshire 174 265 337 360 378 403 378 350 348
                   
Monmouthshire (including County Boroughs) 30 39 47 61 107 176 221 92 123
Monmouth Administrative County 36 47 57 74 127 213 258 111 148
Newport County Borough 5 5 8 16 34 47 79 26 36
Glamorganshire (including County Boroughs) 210 284 323 343 374 421 414 350 369
Glamorgan Administrative County 254 347 399 422 450 509 487 424 457
Cardiff County Borough 13 28 37 44 71 116 161 65 79
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough 287 375 428 463 497 565 541 467 498
Swansea County Borough 122 167 199 239 268 337 366 252 291
                   
Anglesey 167 359 579 643 593 509 404 526 437
Brecknockshire 170 258 308 327 379 466 494 359 366
Cardiganshire 195 401 654 690 646 492 352 554 426
Carmarthenshire 325 571 729 730 691 602 477 644 548
Carnarvonshire 184 356 577 635 554 456 349 500 419
Denbighshire 233 374 477 502 498 496 440 466 436
Flintshire 200 293 334 377 414 467 473 388 416
Merionethshire 144 318 611 697 626 476 365 536 431
Montgomeryshire 114 214 319 346 377 401 378 341 319
Pembrokeshire 91 168 234 246 277 279 279 247 225
Radnorshire 20 12 19 36 64 78 112 53 60

As regards the age-distribution of persons speaking both English and Welsh the maximum proportions are found at age 15-25 in those counties with high proportions at all ages—Anglesey, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Carnarvonshire and Merionethshire; but in those counties with low proportions at all ages, the maximum is found either at 45-65 or at 65 and upwards. In the former group the proportions at age 10-15 also are higher than at the ages above 45, and this fact may be taken to indicate that the comparatively high proportion of bilinguals in these counties is to some extent due to the teaching in the schools. Taking the four counties which showed the greatest relative increases during the last inter-censal period in the proportion of bilinguals, it will be found that among the several age-groups the maximum increase has occurred at age 65 and upwards; while in Monmouthshire, which showed the greatest decline, the numbers in this age-group decreased relatively less than in any other. The ratios per cent, of the proportions in 1911 to those in 1901 are shown in the following statement:—

Counties Total
3 years
and
upwards.
3-15 15-25 25-45 45-65 65 and
upwards
Wales and Monmouthshire 101 101 96 99 104 109
             
Anglesey 120 120 123 120 118 123
Cardiganshire 130 135 122 130 133 139
Carnarvonshire 119 118 121 121 120 126
Merionethshire 124 122 120 130 127 132
Monmouthshire 75 74 66 73 79 90

The exceptionally low ratio at 15-25 in Monmouthshire is apparently due to immigration—most active at these ages—of persons speaking English only; the next age-group (25-45) is probably affected also though to a smaller extent by the same cause; and the absence of such migration at ages, over 65 would leave the ratio at that age-period comparatively high. It is possible that a converse process, namely, emigration of bilinguals from the other four counties (all of which suffered loss by migration) may have contributed to the high ratios at 65 and upwards in those counties.

Total English-speaking and total Welsh-speaking. —In order to compare the prevalence of English or Welsh in the several parts of the country, it is necessary to take into account the varying proportions speaking both languages. For example, the monoglot English in Brecknockshire amount to only 570 per 1,000, while in Pembrokeshire they are 653 per 1,000; but the total proportion speaking English in the former county is 929 per 1,000 against 900 per 1,000 in the latter. The following table, which is derived from Table 3, pages 47 to 51, shows the proportions of all English and of all Welsh speakers in 1901 and 1911, and the per-centage ratio of increase or decrease; the proportions of bilinguals are also shown separately in order to complete the comparison.

TABLE VII. ADMINISTRATIVE COUNTIES AND COUNTY BOROUGHS.—Proportion per 1,000 persons speaking English and Welsh respectively, inclusive of those speaking both languages, 1901 and 1911; and ratios per cent, of proportions in 1911 to those in 1901.

Counties and County Boroughs Speaking English. Speaking Welsh. Speaking both Languages.
1901. 1911. Ratio. 1901. 1911. Ratio. 1901. 1911. Ratio.
Wales and Monmouthshire 846 887 105 499 435 87 348 350 101
                   
Monmouthshire (including County Borough) 990 955 96 130 96 74 123 92 75
Monmouthshire Administrative County 989 953 96 157 116 74 148 111 75
Newport County Borough 994 965 97 37 26 70 36 26 72
Glamorganshire (including County Boroughs) 928 939 101 435 381 88 369 350 95
Glamorgan Administrative County 905 936 103 548 463 84 457 424 93
Cardiff County Borough 987 950 96 81 67 83 79 65 82
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough 923 948 103 571 502 88 498 467 94
Swansea County Borough 959 941 98 324 271 84 291 252 87
                   
Anglesey 517 610 118 917 887 97 437 525 120
Brecknockshire 906 929 103 459 415 90 366 359 98
Cardiganshire 493 641 130 930 896 96 426 554 130
Carmarthenshire 643 778 121 904 849 94 548 644 118
Carnarvonshire 522 622 119 896 856 96 419 500 119
Denbighshire 816 883 108 619 567 92 436 466 107
Flintshire 924 942 102 491 422 86 416 388 93
Merionethshire 493 613 124 937 903 96 431 536 124
Montgomeryshire 843 881 105 475 448 94 319 341 107
Pembrokeshire 880 900 102 344 324 94 225 247 110
Radnorshire 997 987 99 62 54 87 60 53 88

The counties of Monmouthshire and Radnorshire, which are both almost entirely English speaking, are the only ones in which the total proportion of English speakers has declined. Other counties having 90 per cent., or more, English speakers in their populations are Flintshire (94.2), Glamorganshire (93.9), Brecknockshire (92.9), and Pembrokeshire (90.0); none of these counties shows more than 3 per cent, increase in the proportions of their total English-speaking populations. The counties which have shown the greatest increases, ranging from 18 to 30 per cent., in their total English speakers are the five—Anglesey, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Carnarvonshire and Merionethshire— in which Welsh is the predominant language, and in which that language has shown but little decline during the inter-censal period.

Language spoken in Wales, Scotland and Ireland —We have shown that in the whole of Wales and Monmouthshire the proportion of the population over 3 years of age returned as speaking Welsh was 43.5 per cent., 35.0 per cent, speaking that language in addition to English, and 8. 5 per cent, being returned as speaking Welsh only. From the census returns for Scotland and Ireland, collected and tabulated by the Registrars-General for those parts of the United Kingdom, it appears that in Scotland Gaelic is spoken by only 4.6 per cent, of the population over 3 years of age, and in Ireland, Irish by only 14.0 per cent, the proportions speaking the ancient language alone being as low as 0.4 per cent, in each case. Persons speaking Gaelic only are found almost exclusively in the counties of Argyll, Inverness, Ross and Cromarty, and Sutherland; and those speaking Irish only in the counties of Donegal, Clare, Cork, Galway, Kerry, Mayo, and Waterford. The figures for the counties in which the greatest prevalence of the ancient language is recorded are as follows:—

WALES.
Proportion per 1,000 of the
population over 3 years of age
speaking Welsh.
SCOTLAND.
Proportion per 1,000 of the
population over 3 years of age
speaking Gaelic.
IRELAND.
Proportion per 1,000 of the
population over 3 years of age
speaking Irish.
Merrionethshire 903 Ross and Cromarty 677 Galway 570
Cardiganshire 896 Sutherland 618 Mayo 489
Anglesey 887 Inverness 591 Kerry 404
Carnarvonshire 856 Argyll 484 Clare 371
Carmarthenshire 849     Donegal 370

It appears, therefore, that not only is the Welsh language more generally used in Wales, as a whole, than is the Irish language in Ireland or the Gaelic in Scotland, but that in no part of the latter countries does the ancient language prevail to so great an extent as in the Welsh counties named above.

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