ABSTRACT
Liberal Wales was succeeded by Labour hegemony, a leftward shift that was troubling for the largely conservative nationalists of Plaid. At the same time, concern for cultural integrity was manifested in societies intended to promote the Welsh language. The Urdd Gobaith Cymru was one of the more enduring, and this had 50,000 members by 1934. The land of Wales was not the wilderness portrayed by the statistical tables; it was the proper home of the traditional rural community, that was also the immemorial mainstay of the Welsh language and its associated culture. In 1936, a sensational incident drew attention to what would eventually become a powerful force in Welsh politics. The British media began treating Wales as an area of serious political interest, as opposed to an inevitable Labour fortress, and the phenomenon of nationalism was the subject of much journalistic investigation.
