see Welsh.
Old English walu "ridge," as of earth or stone, later "ridge made on flesh by a lash" (related to weal (n.2)); from Proto-Germanic *walo (cf. Low German wale "weal," Old Frisian walu "rod," Old Norse völr "round piece of wood," Gothic walus "a staff, stick," Dutch wortel, German wurzel "root"). The common notion perhaps is "raised line." Used in reference to the ridges of textile fabric from 1580s. Wales "horizontal planks which extend along a ship's sides" is attested from late 13c.
wale (wāl)
n.
A mark raised on the skin, as by a whip; a weal or welt. v. waled, wal·ing, wales
To raise marks on the skin, as by whipping.
One of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, occupying the western peninsula of the island of Great Britain. Its capital and largest city is Cardiff.
Note: Welsh culture is known for its writers and singers, dating back more than one thousand years to the bards (poet-singers) of the Middle Ages.