Arch-Druid Refused To Pay At Shop Because Employee Didn’t Speak Welsh


Gwynedd, Wales – Police were summoned to a small shop in Northern Wales after an arch-druid customer refused to pay for his goods. The man expected to hear his total in the old language, and refused to remunerate until the cashier got it right.

Arch-druid Robyn Lewis, 83, was at the Spar store in Pwllheli, and expected the workers there to speak to him in his native language, reports The Daily Mail. Dr. Lewis, a former Arch-druid of the Gorsedd, a group that promotes Welsh arts, received the total for his goods – £58.62 – but expected to hear the total in Welsh rather than English.

The cashier had spoken to him in Welsh until it came time for the total, reports BBC.

Lewis refused to pay the cashier until she said “pum-deg-wyth punt, chwedeg-dau,” his total in Welsh. The cashier repeated the English total three times, after being asked by Lewis to give the sum in Welsh. The shop’s manager intervened, but Lewis refused to pay for his goods or leave the store.

Police were ultimately summoned to the scene, in an effort to mediate the cultural spat. A non-Welsh speaking officer arrived, and was forced to call for back-up. Ultimately, another cashier was called to the scene who honored Lewis’s request and spoke to him entirely in Welsh.

“All I wanted was an answer in my own language, in my own country,” Lewis reasoned.

However, the shop’s employees were less enthusiastic about the outcome.

“The situation was completely blown out of proportion and left our member of staff extremely upset,” said Conrad Davies, who owns the Spar store.

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