Against all the odds, however, and despite the hostility felt by so many towards its language, Wales survived as a cultural entity. It was the abandonment of the language by the gentry which was the greatest threat, because in much of rural Wales, English remained a totally alien tongue.

What distinguished the Welsh, even from the more militant and independent minded Scots, was their unique language, spoken by the vast majority of its people who knew no other, and one that was so unintelligible to the English. Its literature could now be made available to all in Wales who could read, after the refinement of the 1588 and 1620 Bibles. This was the source of much wonder, and perhaps some mistrust in England, as it still is today.

As far as other secular writing was concerned, much of the early literature had been lost or destroyed, but due to the activities of collectors and historians, medieval works such as "The Book of Taliesin," "The Black Book of Carmarthen," and "The White Book of Rhydderch" were preserved as reminders of the splendours of the Welsh literary tradition.

The publication of "Anglica Historia" in 1535, by the Italian humanist Polydor Vergil, cast grave doubts about much of Geoffrey of Monmouth's account of the central myth of Welsh identity, the story of King Arthur. As a result it became the task of patriotic Welsh historians to answer such heresy in such works as "Historie of Cambria," published in 1584. That publication by David Powel remained the standard version of the history of Wales for the next few centuries, and the noble tales concocted by Geoffrey of Monmouth remained, perhaps forever, as part of the way in which the Welsh saw themselves, the true British race and heirs to the Arthurian tradition.

Unfortunately for some, the decline of the old bardic tradition accompanied the transformation of the old lifestyle, the mainstay of the poets since the time of Taliesin, was being rapidly abandoned. The anglicised gentry were able to partake, not just of the literary wealth of Elizabethan England, but of the continent of Europe as well, and the works of Welsh poets was no longer adequate to satisfy the new demand. For most of the common people of Wales, however, the beauties of Welsh literature were out of their reach and the glories of hymn singing lay far into the future. They had their Bible and they had their folk tales; they had their musicians, and above all they still managed to keep their separate identity.