Brad y Llyfrau Gleision

"My attention was attracted to a piece of wood, suspended by a string round a boy' s neck and on the wood were the words, "Welsh stick". This, I was told, was a stigma for speaking Welsh. But, in fact, his only alternative was to speak Welsh or to say nothing. He did not understand English, and there is no systematic exercise in interpretation.

The Welsh stick, or "Welsh", as it is sometimes called, is given to any pupil who is overheard speaking Welsh, and may be transferred by him to any school-fellow whom he hears committing a similar offence. It is then passed from one to another until the close of the week, when the pupil in whose possession the "welsh" is found is punished by flogging. Among other injurious effects, this custom has been found to lead children to stealthily visit the houses of their school-fellows for the purpose of detecting those who speak Welsh to their parents, and transferring to them the punishment due to themselves."

Henry Vaughan Johnson