you are very rude and i also find this extremely offensive…first you insult the welsh people by using the term “welshed”. and the welsh lady corrected you for using such foul and derrogatory prejudicial statements. and then you go on to utter more filth by mocking the scottish people by usage of the term “malcolmed”. well, i happen to be full-blooded scottish and a descendent of the rulers of alba, even some of the malcolms. you should definately watch your language.
-james
I, too, agree that Cecil should not denigrate the fine Celtic people, such as the Welsh, the Scots, and my own people, the Irish. It is a cheap shot to take at residents of what have not been third-world nations for upwards of a decade! 
Really, BLUEBIRD1, before ranting you should enlighten us as to which particular column it is that you are reacting to. It’s not like he doesn’t get several “How dare you, Cecil,” emails every hour. 
If Cecil is so smart, he already should know which column that Bluebird1 is talking about.
Actually, the American Heritage Dictionary lists the origins of the term “Welched” as unknown. It might be derived from the Anglo name of the people of Wales, and then again, it might not. It would be interesting to see what the OED says. Just because words sound alike doesn’t mean they mean they have similar etymologies.
Then again, is Bluebird serious or simply pulling our leg?
It appears to be this one:
I do not remember where I read it, but somewhere (I know, not helpful) I read that the “welsher” was a person named Welsh, not the whole country of Wales.
Or maybe it was Welch.
But anyway, one guy–or maybe a family.
Everything I can find online either says it’s derived from Wales, or etym. unknown.
How dare I cecil? I’ve never ceciled.
This OP is a pretty lame attempt at satire. If you’re going to go to the trouble, at least do it well.
Well this is a James’ed up OP if ever I saw one.
Bluebird1, you apparently misunderstood something. When Cecil said he would replace the word “welshed” with the word “malcolmed”, he was not attacking the whole of Scotland, or Scottish people as an ethnic group. Rather, he was attacking that one person who wrote him named “Malcolm”.
If you’re going to be pissed off, at least be pissed off for a legitimate reason.
Nobody’s mentioned sheep yet?
I’m from the third world, Yorkshire. (To quote the Two Ronnies.) How come we don’t get our own gratuitous insult?
They do have sheep there, though.
“Malcolm Solomon” at that, which brings to mind several now-embarrassing moments in pre-WW2 British novels, such as Busman’s Honeymoon or The Ball and the Cross.
Undoubtedly, he does but us mere mortals do not.
Choose one:
A. What makes you think those insults were gratuitous?
B. BBC One insults Yorkshire on a weekly basis.
C. Come back when Yorkshire enters the First World.
We were poor, boot we were happy… Aye.
Here’s the start of the OED entry.
I concur.
Cecil should hand out racial insults niggardly if at all.
Oh, Cecil has never been a niggard with his insults. 
One suggestion is that it comes from the German word welken which means “to fade”.
I.e. the bookies would “fade away” when it was time to pay up.
Managed to get The Guardian to print a letter with that explanation a couple of years ago, but I have a feeling it was promptly shot down in the next edition!
I don’t mind a stupid question as long as it has a certain redeeming whimsicality will be my new favorite Cecilism.