Race relations
Sir: I agree with your correspondent, Michael Wyndham (Letters, 26 Septem- ber), about excluding the Scots from credit for England's military triumphs in the Mid- dle Ages and somewhat later. Yet has he not forgotten another nation — the Welsh?
Though the numbers cannot be exactly calculated, it is believed that there were almost as many Welsh archers as English at Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt. Welsh archers were among the most skilful and feared in Europe. At Agincourt, when Henry V ordered the execution of French prisoners, the English refused (less for humanitarian reasons than for ransom). The Welsh showed their commitment by volun- teering as executioners. In Shakespeare's play, Henry V himself proudly proclaimed he was a Welshman. As for the Armada, the Tudor Elizabeth who hurled defiance at Spain was of part-Welsh descent.
`I'll thrash you to within an inch of the Euro- pean Regulations.' Mr Wyndham had best stay away from the valleys!
Ronald Spark
19 The Rotyngs, Rottingdean, East Sussex
Previous page
