... This extent to which this idea of Britishness was felt particularly strongly among the Welsh gentry, for who, the advantages of a union, both in terms of a political and administrative union, and also a union of identity were greatest. However, the 17th century sees a change in the emphasis in the extent to which the Welsh regarded themselves as British, and instead to some extent, see a resurgence of specifically Welsh identity, and in particular the revival of the Welsh language. Despite this revival of Welshness, this must be viewed still in the context of the overall Britishness of Wales during the period. This ease with which Wales was assimilated into a union with England, and the subsequent growth of a shared sense of identity presents a great paradox , as Wales is part of what Brendan Bradshaw characterises at the 'Celtic fringe' of the British Isles, a ...

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