As it is St David’s day tomorrow, I thought I’d mark the occasion with a medieval Welsh ‘joke’. Thus proving that they have been picked on for a veeeeeeeeeeery long time:
“I find written among old stories how God made Saint Peter
port of Heaven, and how God, in his goodness soon after his suffering on the
cross allowed many men to come to the kingdom of heaven who very little
deserved it. So at this time there were in heaven a lot of Welshmen, who
troubled all the rest with their boasting and chatter. So God said to Saint
Peter that he was fed up with them, and that he’d be very glad to have them out
of heaven. Saint Peter replied to him,
“Good
lord, I guarantee that it will be done in no time.” So Saint Peter went
outside the gates of heaven and shouted in a loud voice,
“Cause
bobe!” which is as much as to say, “Roasted cheese.”
When they heard this the
Welshmen ran out of heaven at great speed. And when Saint Peter saw that they
were all outside, he quickly went in to Heaven and locked the door, and so he
barred all the Welshmen out.
By this you can see that there is no sense in a man loving
or setting his mind too much upon any dainty or worldly pleasure whereby he may
lose heavenly or eternal joy.”
Notes
1 of 8 stories about the Welsh in the 1526, “The Hundred Mery
Talys”, printed in Medieval Comic Tales,
ed. D. Brewer (Cambridge, Boydell & Brewer Press: 1973)
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