19. WALES. Wales derives its name from a Teutonic root meaning foreign, applied to the country by the English invaders of Britain. In Welsh it is called Cymru (formerly spelled Kymry), a name, in spite of a superficial re semblance, ent;rely unconnected with the Cimbri or the Cimmerii. The Welsh term for a Welsh man is Cymro (plur. Cymry), a derivative of the old Celtic Combrox (plur. Combroges), meaning a °fellow This name Is now thought to have been given by the Welsh and the northern remnants of the ancient Britons to themselves in post-Roman times in their jo:nt struggles against the English. Be fore this they seem to have used for themselves the general term Britons (Lat. Ili-IMAM, Brit tones). For certain purposes, chiefly educa tional, Monmouthshire is now counted as part of Wales. In Roman times the chief tribes in Wales were the Ordovices in the north and centre, the Silures in the southeast and the Demetze in southwest Wales. In the post Roman period, and until the assimilation of the Welsh territorial system to that of England, the chief divisions were Gwynedd (in the northwest), Powys (in the centre and north east), Gwent (in the southeast) and Dyfed (in the southwest), together with the con tiguous parts of South Wales. This latter divsion in its totality was often called Deheu barth (i.e. the south part). These divisions practically survive in the dioceses of Bangor, Saint Asaph, Llandaff and Saint David's re spectively. The country was anciently divided into cantrefydd (hundreds), and each cantref was usually divided into two cymydrau (com motes). Some of these cantrefydd (pl. of can[t] (hundred), and tref (homeltead), such as Rhufoniog (Romaniacus), in Denbighshire, Dunoding, the land of Dunod (from Donatus), in Carnaryonshire and West Merioneth, bear Latin names, and must have clearly obtained these names during or after the Roman occu pation. The division into county and borough divisions is due to the assimilation of the Welsh territorial system to that of England. The title aPrince of Wales?) derived from the ancient principality of Wales, is now conferred by the reigning sovereign on the heir-apparent.
In recent times, the connection of this title with Wales has been emphasized by the acceptance of the office of Chancellor of the University of Wales by His Majesty King Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, and afterward by the present king. Wales has also recently received recogni tion of her national emblem of the Red Dragon as part of the armorial bearings of the Prince of Wales.
The Welsh people, though comprising sub varieties, form a flistinct type among the peo ples of the United Kingdom. The cause of this are largely physical and economic, acting from the remotest times, and on this basis the Welsh have developed a political social and mental history of their own. The individuality of Wales is the more remarkable owing to her proximity to England and her exposure to English influences. The country stands, how ever, in the most obvious contrast to the central plain of England on which it borders, and its individuality has, to a great extent, a geograph ical basis. Wales consists almost entirely of a mass of mountains and uplands, intersected by various streams and rivers, the largest of which, the Dee, the Severn and the Wye, are on the east. In the lower valleys and the more level districts of the country, there are tracts of good land, but the upper valleyi in the moun tainous districts are subject to very heavy rain falls, and are of little value for agriculture. There are also many large upland tracts, which can only be used for sheep-Fazing. The popu lation of rural Wales varies in density, but, owing to the smallness of the farms, it is often larger in proportion than in some of the agri cultural districts of England. In the last cen tury the distribution of the population of Wales underwent a great change by the discovery (especially in the south Wales coal-fleld) of great mineral wealth; and the consequent attraction of large masses of people into the industrial districts. These economic develop ments, too, have had a great effect on the social evolution of modern Wales.