Wales is a wonder, and a fascinating one: tantalizing, often ambiguous, sometimes maddening, inspirational to many, inexplicable to some, but never, even to its sternest critics, never for a moment dull.

It is a peninsula, largely mountainous, protruding into the Irish Sea from the English mainland of Britain, and even this definition needs clarification. England is part of the British State, and so is Wales, sharing a monarchy and a government. But Wales is distinctly a separate nation, half-way to self-rule, with its own language, its own history, its own customs, styles, and preferences. For centuries, on and off, the Welsh and the English