TY - CHAP

T1 - Tattooing Owain Glyndŵr? The Body, Memory and Interpretations of Welsh History

AU - Wiliam, Mari

PY - 2025/7

Y1 - 2025/7

N2 - Historians examining modern Wales have been enticed by studies in nationalism, devolution and national identity, veering quite naturally towards writing on high politics, Welsh language rancour and the role of cultural intellectuals. Overall, the picture that emerges is an elite one, partially because mining the everyday history of nationhood, and how it weaves into ‘ordinary’ experiences, involves looking beyond the traditional archives and into sparsely documented lives. By using the human body as a source this chapter will proffer a fresh approach to the Welsh past: after all, having a tattoo of Owain Glyndŵr inked on your torso certainly exhibits devotion to Welsh history, patriotism and to a sense of national particularism. Indeed, as Huw Pryce’s work on Welsh historical writing has shown, the utilisation of the Welsh past and the creation of ‘heroic’ individuals was a powerful tool in nation-building, especially in the Victorian era. Arguably, this process continues in the 21st century, with a sense of nationhood often aesthetically evoked in everyday life via both tattoos and choice of clothing. Through interpretation of visual images, combined with related oral history and social media posts, the chapter will explore designs and slogans that symbolise the Welsh past, considering what these individual choices and their inherent flagging of nationhood reveals about both historical memory and the role of the body as canvas. Leaning on work by sociologists, it will argue that a hierarchy of Welshness exists not only in reference to cultural geography (with ‘Y Fro Gymraeg’ ostensibly at the top), but also in terms of the manifestations of Welsh nationhood that have been deemed ‘worthy’ of study. It is divided into two main sections: firstly the consideration of the use of the medieval Welsh past in tattoos, and, secondly, the utilisation of more modern imagery in Welsh football tattoos and Welsh pin-up girl designs. It will ultimately propose that a tattoo of Gerallt Gymro is as meritorious an insight into the power of the Welsh past as any archival manuscript.

AB - Historians examining modern Wales have been enticed by studies in nationalism, devolution and national identity, veering quite naturally towards writing on high politics, Welsh language rancour and the role of cultural intellectuals. Overall, the picture that emerges is an elite one, partially because mining the everyday history of nationhood, and how it weaves into ‘ordinary’ experiences, involves looking beyond the traditional archives and into sparsely documented lives. By using the human body as a source this chapter will proffer a fresh approach to the Welsh past: after all, having a tattoo of Owain Glyndŵr inked on your torso certainly exhibits devotion to Welsh history, patriotism and to a sense of national particularism. Indeed, as Huw Pryce’s work on Welsh historical writing has shown, the utilisation of the Welsh past and the creation of ‘heroic’ individuals was a powerful tool in nation-building, especially in the Victorian era. Arguably, this process continues in the 21st century, with a sense of nationhood often aesthetically evoked in everyday life via both tattoos and choice of clothing. Through interpretation of visual images, combined with related oral history and social media posts, the chapter will explore designs and slogans that symbolise the Welsh past, considering what these individual choices and their inherent flagging of nationhood reveals about both historical memory and the role of the body as canvas. Leaning on work by sociologists, it will argue that a hierarchy of Welshness exists not only in reference to cultural geography (with ‘Y Fro Gymraeg’ ostensibly at the top), but also in terms of the manifestations of Welsh nationhood that have been deemed ‘worthy’ of study. It is divided into two main sections: firstly the consideration of the use of the medieval Welsh past in tattoos, and, secondly, the utilisation of more modern imagery in Welsh football tattoos and Welsh pin-up girl designs. It will ultimately propose that a tattoo of Gerallt Gymro is as meritorious an insight into the power of the Welsh past as any archival manuscript.

M3 - Chapter

SN - 9781837722341

SP - 352

EP - 378

BT - Memory and Nation: Writing the History of Wales

A2 - Thomas, Rebecca

A2 - Jarrett, Sadie

A2 - Olson, Katherine K.

PB - University of Wales Press, Cardiff

CY - Caerdydd

ER -