Manuscripts chronicling the history of Wales and Britain from Roman rule onwards are a new focus for experts.

The Welsh Chronicles are a collection of texts that both attempt to mark historical events - and according to some - act as propaganda.
It has been suggested that some of the texts even urge the Welsh to rise up against their Saxon oppressors.
Historians have gathered at St John's College, Cambridge, for a two-day conference examining the collections.
The manuscripts are scattered across Wales and England, with some held at the National Library of Wales, others at the British Library, and some of them at places like Exeter Cathedral.
They bear imposing names like 'Epitome Historiae Britanniae' and 'Brut y Tywysogion' - chronicling events from the death of the last king of Britain, Cadwaladr, in AD682, through to the 14th Century medieval Wales.
"Standard histories of early Wales are based heavily on the chronicles, but we as scholars could do so much more to question the circumstances in which they were written, or what they really tell us as a result," argued Anglo-Saxon PhD student Rebecca Thomas.
The Cambridge University scholar is one of those who has helped pull together the conference, along with Bangor University and Harvard in America.
"They are a great resource, but one that we need to understand far more than we currently do," she said.
In Wales, chronicles were being written in various monasteries from no later than AD800, and remained the primary form of record-keeping for centuries.
Written in Latin and Welsh, they often provided a uniquely Welsh perspective on history.
The most famous are the Annales Cambriae (or Annals of Wales), which records key points from the 5th Century onwards.
But researchers have become increasingly aware that rather than just a list of historical events, these documents are a complex collection of different texts grouped under one name, and belong to a much wider group of chronicles overall.
In some cases, little is known about who wrote them, how they were compiled, or how they were influenced by the politics of their age.
In the 9th Century Historia Brittonum (History of the Britons), for instance, the text can be read as a call for the Welsh to move on from their displacement by the Anglo-Saxons in England - or equally - it can be read as a rallying cry to rise up.
"The fact that you can get two views which are so dramatically different shows how enigmatic it still is as a text," added Ms Thomas.
"Understanding the Chronicles better will transform our perception, not only of how the Welsh viewed themselves as a people, but also how they incorporated other groups into their own history."


A former boarding school worker who was found dead while he faced a sex abuse trial was the subject of a witch hunt, his mother has said after an inquest.

Jasmine Botting said Darren Turk - found hanged at his Etchingham home in June - was an innocent "gentle giant".
He was convicted of historical abuse after his death in what is thought to be the first time a dead man has been convicted of a crime in England.
East Sussex senior coroner Alan Craze concluded Turk took his own life.
After the hearing, Mrs Botting said her son wrote in his last letter: "I cannot go to prison for something I haven't done."
Adding that the family were waiting to hear whether they could appeal against Turk's convictions, she said: "It was definitely a witch hunt. He couldn't believe someone could say those awful things about him."
Turk, 54, was accused of offences against boys aged 11 to 15 between 1996 and 2002 at Frewen College, Northiam, where he was a member of care staff and later head of care at the school, but not a teacher.
The charges did not involve any staff or pupils currently at the school.
After Turk died, a Lewes Crown Court jury convicted him of 10 counts and cleared him of six counts.
The inquest heard he had been prescribed anti-depressants before his body was found at his home in Fontridge Lane by his stepfather Eric Botting.
Post-mortem tests gave the cause of death as hanging and toxicology tests found he had 74mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, described by the coroner as "not a huge amount".
A plastic box labelled "Mum and Dad" contained letters of a suicidal nature, the inquest heard.
Mr Craze said: "The letters make it abundantly clear what he was doing and why he was doing it."
In a statement, the family said: "An innocent man has been hounded to his death by a malicious campaign with no justification whatsoever.
"Darren was one of the gentlest, loveable and caring people you could ever meet."


An amateur footballer has collapsed and died during a match.

James Moorfoot had been playing for Langtoft AFC in Rudston, near Driffield, East Yorkshire, on Saturday.
An air ambulance was called when he collapsed at about 15:30 GMT but Mr Moorfoot died on the pitch.
Officials at the club said they were "numb with grief" but said the player had died "doing what he loved, in the village he loved, surrounded by the people who loved him".
The Hull Daily Mail is reporting that Mr Moorfoot was an English teacher at Hornsea School and Language College.
According to the paper, acting headteacher Steve Ostler told parents of Mr Moorfoot's death in an e-mail sent on Sunday.
On a Facebook tribute page, Mr Moorfoot was described by current and former pupils as a "top bloke" and a "fantastic teacher".
Students discussed setting up a memorial to him at the school on Monday.
Tributes also flooded in from Langtoft AFC and other sides affiliated to the East Riding County FA.
Langtoft AFC said: "We are currently trying to come to terms with the tragic and sudden passing of James Moorfoot.
"James had a contagious energy and humour which lit up a room and will be dearly missed by so many."
Club officials said they could not "thank enough" the emergency services and Hedon Rangers players "who worked so bravely to save James".
"Everyone associated with Langtoft Football Club, past and present, sends their love and condolences at this difficult time."
Writing on Facebook, Keith Simmonds said: "A real privilege to play against James and his team only this year.
"Our deepest thoughts go out to his family, friends and team mates. RIP from all Cottingham Rangers."
Yorkshire Ambulance Service said a number of paramedics and the air ambulance were called to the ground.
A spokeswoman said: "Despite everyone's efforts the patient sadly died at the scene."


Talks are to be held in a bid to prevent further strike action at Scottish local airports.

A 48-hour walkout was staged by security staff at 11 airports operated by Highlands and Islands Airports (Hial) last week as part of the industrial action, which saw flights cancelled at Dundee airport.
Hial bosses said they would make a formal offer to "resolve this issue as quickly as possible".
The Prospect union welcomed the move.
Hial, which is owned by the Scottish government, operates airports in the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland, Dundee, Argyll, Inverness and Wick.
About 120 staff from security company AMSL took part in industrial action last week as part of a dispute over pay.
Hial managing director Inglis Lyon said he hoped the issue could be swiftly resolved.
He said: "We will submit a formal offer to the union this week which we hope will provide the basis for a meaningful, constructive dialogue.
"It has always been the intention of the company to address the concerns of security staff, but it is impossible to do so under the threat of industrial action.
"It is important that we resolve this issue as quickly as possible. The threat of further industrial action is in no one's interests, particularly as we approach the busy summer season."
Prospect national secretary Alan Denney said he was "pleased" that Hial had "made progress".
He said: "We look forward to receiving a written offer and entering into a constructive dialogue with Hial on the basis of this. We hope this will lead to a swift resolution of our dispute.
"The legal mandate for further strike action remains, but if Hial makes a reasonable offer which addresses our objective of securing equal treatment for AMSL workers, we should not need to exercise that option."
Prospect represents 120 of AMSL's 160 workers at the 11 Hial airports.


More than £500,000 in tuition fees, loans and grants has been awarded to a private college at the centre of a fraud investigation and to students enrolled there.

It follows a BBC Wales investigation focusing on the West London Vocational Training College in Cardiff.
A Week In Week Out undercover reporter using fake qualifications was offered a loan to study there.
The college said its students were all genuine, as far as it was concerned.
A recruiter was secretly filmed at the college telling potential students they could cheat coursework and lie about their qualifications to obtain a publicly-funded loan.
The college's owner, Bharat Bageja, has denied knowing of any wrongdoing in the recruitment of students.
The Welsh government has declined to comment while investigations are ongoing
Figures obtained by BBC Wales News via the Freedom of Information Act reveal tuition fees totalling £175,500 had been paid to the college by the end of November last year.
Grants and loans for living costs amounting to £327,215 had been paid to students enrolled at the college, the Welsh government figures revealed.
All payments to the college and its students were suspended on 27 November pending an investigation by South Wales Police into an alleged grant funding fraud at the college. Three people have been questioned.
The Student Loans Company confirmed a number of students had withdrawn from studies at the Cardiff campus since payments were suspended.
Nearly £4,000 in maintenance loans and grants have been repaid by students of the Cardiff campus since the end of November, they said.
However there has been no repayment of any tuition fees.
Concerns over the regulation of private colleges were raised by an assembly committee in October 2014.
Announcing the suspension of payments to the college last November, Education Minister Huw Lewis said checks and balances were in place but no regulation system could be "100 per cent proof" against fraud.


Eastern Libya has banned men and women between the ages of 18 and 45 from travelling abroad without permission.

The region's military chief of staff, Abdelrazzak Al-Naduri, said the aim of the move was to prevent people from joining terrorist groups abroad.
Libya has rival administrations in the east and west, and much of the country is effectively controlled by militias.
The new order comes days after a controversial ban on women's travel was introduced, and quickly suspended.
That order, also issued by the authorities in eastern Libya, prevented women under 60 from travelling without a male companion.
Libyans in other parts of the country are unlikely to be affected by the new ban, because the two rival centres of power do not recognise each other's authority.
The new order means eastern Libya's military intelligence and ministry of interior will be responsible for issuing permits for those who wish to travel.
A source at the military chief of staff's office told the BBC the order was likely to be a temporary one, and that most travellers would be able to obtain a security clearance within a day.
But he did not specify what the criteria for a travel permit would be.
The short-lived ban on women's travel was also introduced for national security reasons, the military said.
It claimed that some women were communicating with foreign intelligence services.
However, that directive was widely condemned and ridiculed by Libyans, the BBC's North Africa correspondent Rana Jawad reports.
The country has been torn by strife since the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Eastern Libya is under the control of strongman commander Khalifa Hafter, who is leading the battle against Islamist militias. Its government is not recognised by the international community.
The rival government is based in the capital, Tripoli.
The power vacuum created after Gaddafi's fall allowed the Islamic State group to gain a foothold in the country, adding to an already volatile situation.
An estimated 400,000 Libyans have also been internally displaced during the conflict.
The situation has led to a flood of migrants attempting to travel to Italy by boat, often with fatal consequences.


Wasps secured a superb bonus-point victory over Leinster and progressed to the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup as Pool Five winners.

Champions Toulon had gone into the final round of games as group leaders, but Wasps leapfrogged them on points scored in their two meetings.
Saturday's game was evenly poised at half-time, with the hosts taking a narrow 15-10 lead.
But Wasps ran in 36 unanswered points in a superb second-half performance.
Toulon had to settle for second place in Pool Five, and go through as one of three runners-up.
Wasps will now play the winners of Pool Two in the quarter-finals and could secure a home tie, depending on Sunday's results.
Wasps seemed unlikely group winners after being drawn alongside three-time European champions Leinster and Toulon, as well as last year's Premiership finalists Bath.
But the Coventry-based outfit went into the final game, against an under-performing Leinster side, knowing a win would see them through.
Dai Young's team got off to the worst possible start after only two minutes at the Ricoh Arena, when a rapid break saw Zane Kirchner go over in the right-hand corner for the visitors.
But the Irish province, who finished bottom of the pool, lost influential fly-half Johnny Sexton to concussion after only 10 minutes and their afternoon began to unravel.
Jimmy Gopperth converted his own try and England's Joe Launchbury, on his return from concussion, also went over to put Wasps ahead.
While Wasps front-rower Lorenzo Cittadini was in the sin-bin, an acrobatic inside pass by Rob Kearney saw Eoin Reddan score Leinster's second, but it was to be their final points of the match.
Elliot Daly will head to England's Six Nations training camp on Sunday off the back of a man-of-the-match performance which included a sensational try.
The Wasps outside centre, as yet uncapped at international level, raced diagonally from 40 metres out, beating Rob and Dave Kearney, to touchdown his side's third score of the game.
The bonus point came via a penalty try and Leinster's defence crumbled again as Daly sent wing Frank Halai over.
Full-back Charles Piutau showed his pace to cross with 10 minutes remaining, before Ashley Johnson stepped off the bench to heap more misery on Leinster, who were handed their heaviest European defeat to date.
Speaking about Daly's influence on the game, director of rugby Young said: "He showed what a threat he is against the best in Europe.
"He's also been excellent at the bread and butter stuff like defence that you expect from an international centre.
"He was outstanding and while I don't select the England team, I don't think he can do any more."
Wasps: Charles Piutau; Josh Bassett, Elliot Daly, Brendan Macken, Frank Halai; Jimmy Gopperth, Joe Simpson; Matt Mullan, Edd Shervington, Lorenzo Cittadini; Joe Launchbury, Bradley Davies, James Haskell (capt), George Smith, Sam Jones.
Replacements: Ashley Johnson, Tom Bristow, Jake Cooper-Woolley, James Gaskell, Nathan Hughes, Dan Robson, Ruaridh Jackson, Rob Miller.
Sin Bin: Cittadini (29).
Leinster: Rob Kearney; Zane Kirchner, Luke Fitzgerald, Noel Reid, Dave Kearney; Johnny Sexton (capt), Eoin Reddan; Jack McGrath, Sean Cronin, Marty Moore; Devin Toner, Rhys Ruddock; Dominic Ryan, Jordi Murphy, Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements: Richardt Strauss, Peter Dooley, Michael Bent, Ross Molony, Josh van der Flier, Isaac Boss, Cathal Marsh, Ben Te'o.
Ref: Mathieu Raynal (France).
Attendance: 16,519
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Rwanda's governing RPF party has won a resounding victory in parliamentary elections, securing 76% of the vote.

The party of President Paul Kagame, which came to power after the genocide of 1994, won 40 of the 53 seats directly elected on Monday.
The opposition FDU-Inkingi, whose leader Victoire Ingabire is in jail, did not take part in the election, as it is not officially registered.
Two other parties regarded as close to the RPF took 13% and 9% of the vote.
Voting took placed days after two people were killed in two grenade attacks in the capital, Kigali.
No group has said it carried out the attacks but officials have blamed the rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which is accused of links to the 1994 genocide, and critics of the government recently exiled in South Africa.
The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) government has been praised for maintaining stability and overseeing rapid economic growth since the slaughter of some 800,000 minority ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
But President Kagame has been increasingly accused of ignoring human rights and stamping out any opposition.
The RPF has kept its parliamentary majority but lost two seats.
A third opposition party to contest in the election, PS-Imberakuri, did not win any seats.
Its officials told the BBC that their supporters were harassed during the campaign - charges rejected by the RPF.
Helped by quotas, Rwanda has been the world's only parliament where women form a majority.
The parliament has 80 seats, 24 of which are reserved for women, two for candidates representing the youth and one representing disabled people.
Women's groups were electing the female MPs on Tuesday; the other quota MPs will be selected on Wednesday.


Barnet scored three times in nine second-half minutes as they came from behind to beat Cheltenham and record a first win under manager Kevin Nugent.

Cheltenham, without a goal in six hours of football, opened the scoring after 16 minutes when Danny Wright latched onto Billy Waters' flick on and clipped the ball over Jamie Stephens.
The Robins almost doubled their lead immediately after the break when Stephens misjudged Carl Winchester's free-kick and the ball came back off the crossbar.
Barnet levelled against the run of play in the 70th minute when substitute Curtis Weston lashed home a volley after Scott Brown's poor punch.
The Bees were ahead seven minutes later when John Akinde got a touch on Charlie Clough's towering header from Jamal Campbell-Ryce's corner.
And striker Akinde moved back level with Doncaster's John Marquis at the top of the League Two scoring charts in the 79th minute, finishing with aplomb when through on goal.
Match support supplied by the Press Association.
Match ends, Barnet 3, Cheltenham Town 1.
Second Half ends, Barnet 3, Cheltenham Town 1.
Corner,  Cheltenham Town. Conceded by Michael Nelson.
Attempt blocked. Liam Davis (Cheltenham Town) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked.
Foul by Jamal Campbell-Ryce (Barnet).
Jack Barthram (Cheltenham Town) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Justin Amaluzor (Barnet) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Manny Onariase (Cheltenham Town).
Hand ball by Jamal Campbell-Ryce (Barnet).
Attempt missed. Simeon Akinola (Barnet) right footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses to the right.
Foul by Curtis Weston (Barnet).
Liam Davis (Cheltenham Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Cheltenham Town. Jordan Cranston replaces Carl Winchester.
Goal!  Barnet 3, Cheltenham Town 1. John Akinde (Barnet) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Michael Nelson.
Goal!  Barnet 2, Cheltenham Town 1. John Akinde (Barnet) right footed shot from very close range to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Charlie Clough following a corner.
Corner,  Barnet. Conceded by Jack Barthram.
Substitution, Cheltenham Town. James Rowe replaces Daniel Wright.
Substitution, Cheltenham Town. Kyle Wootton replaces James Dayton.
Simeon Akinola (Barnet) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Liam Davis (Cheltenham Town).
Goal!  Barnet 1, Cheltenham Town 1. Curtis Weston (Barnet) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by Simeon Akinola.
Substitution, Barnet. Justin Amaluzor replaces Luke Coulson.
Ryan Watson (Barnet) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by James Dayton (Cheltenham Town).
(Barnet) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by William Boyle (Cheltenham Town).
Attempt saved. William Boyle (Cheltenham Town) header from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Corner,  Cheltenham Town. Conceded by Michael Nelson.
Attempt missed. Ryan Watson (Barnet) right footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right.
Carl Winchester (Cheltenham Town) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Jamal Campbell-Ryce (Barnet) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Carl Winchester (Cheltenham Town).
David Tutonda (Barnet) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Manny Onariase (Cheltenham Town).
Corner,  Barnet. Conceded by Harry Pell.
Corner,  Barnet. Conceded by Jack Barthram.
Substitution, Barnet. Curtis Weston replaces Tom Champion.
Jamal Campbell-Ryce (Barnet) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Jack Barthram (Cheltenham Town).
Ryan Watson (Barnet) wins a free kick in the defensive half.


As soon as the sun rises in the Caparao Mountains in southeast Brazil, Tarcisio Lacerda takes me on a tour of his property.

We drive up the hills in his pickup truck to see farmers harvest the coffee beans in the vast valley around us.
Coffee has been the economic backbone of this region - on the border between the Brazilian states of Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo - for more than a century.
But after years of a commodity-fuelled boom, economies like Brazil are having a hard time adjusting to slower global demand and lower prices.
Over the decades, the Lacerda family has known fortune and poverty, with their wealth always oscillating around coffee. Droughts, government policies, global consumption, currency problems - these were blessings and curses that determined the fate of the Lacerdas.
But in the past five years, farmers in this region are finding new ways to make their own fortunes, trying to move away from producing cheap commodity beans and instead invest in top quality production.
Tarcisio drives me to the top of the hill and lets me in on their secret.
The valley is filled with coffee trees - but not all of it produces particularly good coffee. In the past, farmers would collect all beans, put them in bags and ship them abroad, getting whatever prices were listed in the commodity markets.
Now Tarcisio and his family are separating the best beans - most of which are from trees 1,500 metres above sea level - and producing their own specialty brands. The rest is sold to the market as cheaper, unprocessed green beans.
"Usually you double your price - going from commodity to specialty," he says.
"A bag of commodity coffee is now worth 450 reais ($110; Â£72) - but we can sell specialty at around 900 or 1000 reais ($220 or $240)," he says.
Tarcisio takes me to his neighbour's farm - Forquilha do Rio - which has been winning some of Brazil's top awards for coffee.
Their quality has to do with the favourable local conditions - mild temperatures, good sun exposure and high altitude.
"We knew our coffee was good, but we had no idea it was this good," says Afonso de Abreu Lacerda (no relation to Tarcisio), in front of a cabinet packed with trophies.
"It wasn't until we started competing in awards, about five years ago, that we learned just how valuable it was," he adds.
In 2012, when Forquilha do Rio won one of Brazil's top awards, they were able to sell one of their lots for $950 - more than six times the commodity price at the time. They are now exporting their finished brand to China and Japan.
The "specialty revolution" is partly the brainchild of Tarcisio's son, 26-year-old Jhone.
When he was just 15, Jhone dropped out of school and moved into the family property, determined to learn everything about the coffee trade.
With each harvest, father and son experimented with different ways of harvesting, drying up and roasting their product.
Jhone designed, built and patented a new coffee drying equipment - which is one of the crucial elements of turning commodity beans into gourmet food.
He also became a licensed Q-Grader - a special category of coffee tasters.
They started developing their own brand - Fazenda Santa Rita - after buying roasters, and now have their own packages.
"This change in direction is something that the markets imposed on us," says Jhone Lacerda.
"We used to depend on the price of commodities - on things like how much coffee other countries are drinking, or whether they are in crisis or not," he tells me.
"We want to be in a smaller market, but that does not depend just on demand. In the specialty market, it is not the global demand that drives prices. It is the quality of the product that you put out."
Jhone uses his Q-Grader skills to advise all producers in the region on what price to charge for their harvests.
Together with two other families, he created the Montanhas do Caparao, a blend of some of the region's best coffees that has also won a top prize in Brazil.
Jhone is now back in school, studying coffee production at Instituto Federal do EspÃrito Santo college.
Jhone's father tells me it took centuries for Brazil to finally wake up and smell its own specialty coffee. His parents had never thought of it before.
Brazil is the world's top producer and exporter of coffee by a large margin. It makes about a third of the world's coffee - but virtually all of it is green beans of very low aggregate value.
In the commodity market, the price for green coffee beans depends on factors such as climate and global consumption.
But other types of commodities - like soybeans and iron ore - are now suffering from the slowdown of the Chinese economy.
As Brazil and Latin America rely heavily on commodities and Chinese consumption, the whole region is slowing down to the tune of those markets. Brazil's economy is expected to contract more than 2% this year.
The head of the foreign relations department in Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture, Alberto Coelho Fonseca, says producers in many different areas are now trying to add value to food by exporting refined products, which is a way to compensate for lower international prices.
"A specialty coffee can be sold at 300% more value than a non-specialty coffee," he says.
"Even if they have a very small share in exports, the techniques of producing good specialty coffee can spread value through the chain."
Now some government officials want to help these premium brands take off abroad.
In next year's Rio Olympics, Brazil will serve its specialty coffee in tourism lounges in all venues.
Mr Fronseca adds: "About 70% of the coffee brewed by coffeehouses like Starbuck, Cafe Nero or Costa is likely to be from Brazil. We need to showcases our products better."
Back in the Caparao Mountains, local producers found another way to add value to their product - tourism.
Local farms opened up special cafes and hostels, where visitors are taken on coffee-tasting tours, modelled on California's wine-producing Napa valley.
This is still in its infancy, but it helps consolidate the region's reputation for quality blends.
Now, say Jhone and Tarcisio Lacerda, half of the beans in their farms are already being used to produce their specialty roast, and they have big plans.
Jhone says: "We want to produce the best coffee in the world.
"We want the Caparao region to become well-known across the world."


Team GB women's sevens fly-half Emily Scott can hardly believe she is going to the Olympics after starting her playing career in an Essex boy's team.

Scott has been chosen in a 12-strong squad for Rio 2016, the first time the sport has been part of the Games.
"At my local club I had to play in the boy's team because there was no women's rugby team," Scott, 24, told BBC Essex.
"That we are actually going to an Olympics is something I couldn't have dreamed of."
Scott hopes that the exposure women's rugby will enjoy in Brazil will inspire future generations of players.
"I used to sit at home on my sofa with my mum and dad and we'd watch the Olympics. Being a rugby player I never dreamed that could be me," she said.
"Hopefully now it's something aspiring young women rugby players can look to achieve."
Scott, who was out of action for five months last year after breaking her leg in a game against Saracens, is joined in the squad by Thurrock Women's team-mate Heather Fisher.
The Essex side are part of Women's Championship South One and finished second last season.
"I wouldn't have been able to achieve what I have without their support and everything they've allowed me to go and do over the past few years," said Scott.
"I absolutely love it there. It is absolutely fantastic to be part of the club."


Police have renewed an appeal to trace a 70-year-old Falkirk man who has been missing from his home for a week.

George Stevenson, who lives in Glenfuir Court, was last seen in the High Station Road area of the town at about 23:00 on 10 February.
Officers said concern was growing for his welfare as he had not made contact with his friends or family.
Mr Stevenson is 5ft 8in tall, with thinning hair on top and longer hair at the back and sides.
He was believed to be wearing a green tammy hat, black jacket, long cardigan, a blue and white checked shirt, black jeans and khaki trainers.
Det Insp Jim Thomson, from Police Scotland, said: "George has now been missing over a week without being seen or heard from and so far our inquiries have not led us to establish his whereabouts.
"Officers will be in the area of High Station Road Falkirk near to where George was last seen and around his home address in the Summerford area of Falkirk."


Brive have announced they have signed two props from Glasgow Warriors, with Ryan Grant joining on loan and Sila Puafisi switching in the summer.

Scotland international Grant, 31, has only played five times for the Pro12 club this season but is still training with Glasgow for the time being.
Tonga international Puafisi, 28, joined Warriors from Gloucester in 2015.
French Top 14 Brive announced his capture for next season along with 27-year-old scrum-half Florian Cazenave.
Coach Nicolas Godignon told his club website: "Sila Puafisi is a powerful and very invigorating player.
"His experience at the international level will be a real plus for the team.
"As far as Ryan Grant is concerned, we were very pleased with the trial last week at the club and his availability is an opportunity we have seized."
It will be the first time Grant has played for a club outside Scotland, having joined Warriors in 2010 after spells with Border Reivers and Edinburgh.
Puafisi, who signed a new one-year contract at the start of the season, has made 14 appearances this season for Warriors, playing in all of their European Champions Cup fixtures so far.


An open letter which said it is "unethical" for the Olympic Games to go ahead in Brazil in light of the Zika virus has been played down.

Sport Wales' director of elite performance Brian Davies said it may "scare a few athletes", but official advice remains unchanged.
The letter to the World Health Organization recommends postponing or moving the Games from Rio.
It says efforts to eradicate mosquitoes with the virus have failed.
The Zika virus is linked to severe birth defects.
Between February and April, Brazil registered more than 90,000 likely cases of Zika. The number of babies born with Zika-linked defects stood at 4,908 in April.
Mr Davies said the letter was "unfortunate timing" but changed nothing.
"We will take our advice from the key organisations that we work with," he said.
"As long as that advice doesn't change, then our athletes can consider themselves in a safe environment."
He added that Welsh athletes had not come to him with any concerns over the virus.
"They're focussed on trying to be picked in the first place," he said.
"And if they are concerned, they will put faith in the organisations that are designed to take and bring them back from the Games safely."


Police are finally to get access to interviews a former loyalist prisoner gave to an American university project.

Senior judges in Belfast have lifted an injunction on the PSNI taking possession of Winston Rea's recorded account to Boston College researchers.
Detectives were present with a bag ready for the handover of the tapes.
They were given the all-clear after lawyers for Mr Rea confirmed their final bid to secure a block had been turned down.
The tapes had been held under lock and key at the Royal Courts of Justice.
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg refused to grant an interim prohibition as part of efforts to stop the PSNI from obtaining them.
A judge said the time had come "to lift the injunction and allow the materials to be examined by the police".
Detectives want to access the recordings as part of their investigations into murder and other paramilitary crimes from the 1970s to 1990s.
Mr Rea's legal team argued that it would breach his right to privacy.
He was among dozens of loyalists and republicans who provided testimonies to Boston College staff compiling an oral history of the Northern Ireland conflict.
Interviews were given on the understanding that tapes would not be made public until after their deaths.
In 2013, detectives investigating the abduction and murder of Belfast mother-of-10 Jean McConville in 1972 secured the transcripts of former IRA woman Dolours Price's account.
That material was handed over following court battles on both sides of the Atlantic.
Mr Rea's barrister said his client was "confident that there is nothing in his past or anything contained in these tapes which hasn't already been dealt with by the criminal courts".
"He's a man who has health difficulties," he added.
On that basis, lawyers for both the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) and the PSNI Chief Constable argued that the recordings should now be released.


A novel set in imperial China has won the £25,000 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction.

John Spurling's The Ten Thousand Things is the story of Wang Meng, one of the 14th century's great masters of painting.
It was described by the judges as a "mesmerising, elegantly drawn picture of old imperial China, which feels remarkably modern".
The author received the award at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose.
He was one of seven writers shortlisted for the sixth annual award and he beat off competition from authors including Martin Amis, Adam Foulds and Helen Dunmore to take the prize.
Alistair Moffat, the chairman of the judges, said: "From the audacity of Martin Amis' concentration satire, to a post-modern mash-up of seventeenth-century court and contemporary references, via Sicily, India, Turkey and France, we journeyed and lived ten thousand lives ourselves during the reading and discussion of these books.
"In the end, it was the illumination shone by John Spurling on this fascinating and little-known period that lit us up for the longest time.
"It is a book which deserves enormous credit, and we hope that the Walter Scott Prize can help bring it for him."
Mr Spurling spent his early childhood in Nairobi before moving to England a a 10-year-old.
A former BBC radio announcer, he was been a freelance writer since 1966. He was the New Statesman's art critic from 1976-88 and he has written 30 plays and four novels.
Speaking after he was shortlisted, Mr Spurling said: "Absolutely delighted to be shortlisted, especially because I'm a great admirer of Walter Scott, have read all his fiction and have a small bust of him on my bookcase.
"I don't see myself as specifically an historical novelist, since I regard us all as living in continuous history and believe that we can only understand ourselves in the light of history."
To qualify for The Walter Scott Prize, novels must be set at least 60 years ago, be written in English and have been published the preceding year.


Stevenage have re-signed midfielder Lee Cox on loan from League Two rivals Plymouth until the end of the season.

Cox featured in six games for Boro earlier this season after joining the club on a one-month loan in November.
The 25-year-old, who is out of contract in the summer, has made 42 appearances for Argyle since joining the club from Swindon Town in May 2014.
Stevenage currently sit 19th in the League Two table, ten points above the relegation zone.


Accountants or advisers who help people bend the rules to gain a tax advantage never intended face tougher fines under new penalties proposed by the Treasury.

A fine of up to 100% of the tax that was avoided - including via off-shore havens - has been suggested in the new rules, published for consultation.
Currently those who advise on tax face little risk, while their clients face penalties only if they lose in court.
The rules would "root out" tax avoidance at source, the Treasury said.
The rules in the consultation document also make it simpler to enforce penalties when avoidance schemes are defeated.
"These tough new sanctions will make would-be enablers think twice and in turn reduce the number of schemes on the market," said the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Jane Ellison.
Until now HM Revenue and Customs has concentrated on tackling the individuals who don't pay their tax, while advisers and promoters of tax avoiding schemes have remained shadowy figures in the background.
The intention is that will stop once there is a penalty for the professionals involved of up to 100% of the amount avoided in a scheme.
The government isn't targeting legitimate ways of cutting tax bills, such as tax breaks for putting money in pensions or Individual Savings Accounts.
The avoidance it's trying to root out involves bending the rules to gain a tax advantage that Parliament never intended, an abuse which costs nearly Â£3bn a year.
Accountants see the move as a significant change, which could result in them paying fines even if the advice they give isn't illegal.
The new rules come after the government set up a new task force to investigate allegations of tax-dodging and money laundering in light of the Panama Papers leak, which lifted the lid on how the rich and powerful use tax havens to hide their wealth.
Following the Panama Papers scandal the five largest economies in the European Union, the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, agreed to share information on secret owners of businesses and trusts.
The Treasury said the move would make it harder for businesses and wealthy individuals to operate without paying correct taxes.
And speaking in July, new Prime Minister Theresa May pledged to crack down on tax avoidance, saying  "tax is the price we pay for living in a civilised society".
"It doesn't matter to me whether you're Amazon, Google or Starbucks, you have a duty to put something back, you have a debt to fellow citizens and you have a responsibility to pay your taxes," she said at the time.
However, earlier this month the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Responsible Tax accused the government of undermining efforts to end tax secrecy and said it should force multinational companies such as Google to publish information on their activities in every country where they operate.
Richard Murphy, a chartered accountant and academic at City University, told the BBC it was unlikely that cases would come to court, but that the threat of fines would act as an "amazing deterrent" to advisers which would prevent them offering advice on tax avoidance.
He said this was partly because it could put at risk their ability to get professional indemnity insurance, which they need to continue their work.
"Lawyers and accountants will not take the risk of selling these schemes," he said. "There's a risk of a 100% fine so they'll think they can't afford to do it. Every honest accountant will be jumping for joy this morning that those who have been selling these schemes will be put out of practice."
He said that the tax system loses around Â£10bn per year as a result of tax avoidance, well above the Â£3bn a year the Treasury says is lost.


An unemployed plasterer killed a banker because he was "laughed at" and called a "half-chap", a court has heard.

Trevor Timon hit Oliver Dearlove while he and his friends were talking to a group of women in Blackheath, south-east London, in August 2016.
Mr Timon told the Old Bailey he was not trying to achieve anything by punching Mr Dearlove but had simply felt annoyed.
The 31-year-old, from Plumstead, admits manslaughter but denies murder.
Mr Dearlove, 30, who lived with his girlfriend Claire Wheatley in New Eltham, died within 24 hours of being attacked.
Giving evidence, Mr Timon said he had met a close female friend and three other women in Morden's nightclub for a birthday celebration.
He said he bought a bottle of champagne, of which he drank two glasses, and was "happy", not drunk, when he left the club with the women to go home.
He told the jury he walked up to one of the women "to tell her to hurry up" and then got into an argument with Mr Dearlove and his friends.
"One of them said 'she's with the half-chap'. They were laughing at me really, that's the way I took it," he said.
He said he then told one man "If you don't get out of my face I will knock you out" but meant it as "figure of speech".
Mr Timon told the court the victim did not make any comment about him but appeared "ready to fight".
When asked who was the first person to do anything physical, he said he was and that Mr Dearlove "just fell".
He said he was "shocked" to later hear the banker was taken to hospital, and went straight to a police station a couple of days later after returning from a trip to Ireland.
The case continues.


Clean-up operations have started in east coast towns and villages battered by Friday's high winds and tides.

Thousands of people evacuated due to flood warnings in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex have also started to return home.
Properties in Hornsea, East Yorkshire, suffered "significant flooding" and three people had to be rescued from a sinking car trapped on the seafront.
The storm also destroyed beach huts and damaged the town's 116-year-old pier in Cromer, Norfolk.
More than 5,000 homes were evacuated in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, while in Suffolk, 1,800 residents were told to leave.
People in Jaywick, Mistley and West Mesea in Essex, have started to return home after being asked to go to rest centres ahead of the high tide.
Alison McGuire, a Jaywick resident who decided to stay put, said: "I did not think it would come over - I thought to myself, 'What is all the fuss about?'"
In Hornsea a number of people had to be moved from buildings due to "significant flooding", the East Riding of Yorkshire Council said.
Water topped promenade defences in Marine Drive and a grandmother and two children were rescued moments before their vehicle, trapped on the seafront, sank.
"[The grandmother] drove down the seafront and didn't think it was as deep as it was. It was maybe 4ft to 5ft [1.2-1.5m] deep.
"We got the children out of the car first and then the lady - three minutes later the car had sunk," said Karl Shannon of Hornsea Inshore Lifeboat.
Cromer's Victorian pier is expected to remain closed until Monday while the damage is assessed.
Richard Leeds, of the Cromer branch of the RNLI, said it "could have been worse".
"We've got off lightly compared to what happened during the storm in 2013," he added.
About 12 of the town's beach huts were destroyed and a section of the promenade ripped-up but the sea walls are said to be undamaged.
A number of coastal roads in North Yorkshire were closed and the local council asked people to stay away from Whitby harbour after waves broke over the sea wall.
North Yorkshire Fire Service dealt with flooding in nearby Sandsend and issued a warning asking people not to view the high tides.
Residents and rescue services waited for the expected storm surge to coincide with higher than expected tides and gale-force winds, which were predicted to breach costal defences.
But the Environment Agency said things were not as bad as predicted because the combination of elements "didn't coincide in all areas, and did not reach the most dangerous levels possible along the east coast".
Emergency services have defended the measures taken and said it was not an overreaction.
The Met Office has predicted a calmer period of weather but warned of ice in the west of England and in Norfolk.


The chief of Italian police has said he has a "clear conscience" over the actions his force took regarding Youssef Zaghba, one of the London Bridge attackers.

But Franco Gabrielli also said he understood the "difficulties experienced by people who are working in a very complex situation".
Zaghba, 22, a Moroccan Italian who lived in East London, was detained on suspicion of terrorism offences in Italy last year after police at Bologna Airport thought he was attempting to travel to Syria.
Material relating to the so-called Islamic State group was found on his phone.
He was not prosecuted, but the Italian authorities said they told UK intelligence agencies about him and added his details to an EU-wide database, the Schengen Information System 2 (SIS 2).
It's thought the main purpose of including Zaghba on the SIS 2 database was to track his movements, should he leave Italy and travel elsewhere in Europe.
The Home Office is not commenting on Zaghba's case.
Zaghba carried out the attack on Saturday along with Khuram Butt, 27, and Rachid Redouane, 30, who both lived in Barking.
Eight people were killed and 48 injured when the van they were driving hit pedestrians on London Bridge, before the three got out and stabbed people in nearby Borough Market.
SIS 2 is designed to trigger an alert when a suspect passes through passport control.
Border officers and/or police can then make inquiries, for example, to find out their reasons for travel and where they're going.
That information can then be passed back to the original country. It is also possible for the information to be shared with security officials in the destination country.
The fact an individual is on SIS 2 does not mean they can be automatically arrested or stopped.  The action that can be taken depends on the type of alert on the system.
No-one has confirmed exactly what happened when Zaghba arrived in the UK earlier this year.
But it is likely that he was subject to a check under what's known as "Article 36" with the aim of gathering intelligence about his movements, rather than stopping him from entering the UK.
The College of Policing, which sets guidelines for police in England and Wales, has a guide on the use of SIS 2.
It says: "Article 36 allows a SIS 2 state to place an alert on a person, vehicle or container requesting that if the person or object is located, either a discreet check or a specified action is taken.
"An Article 36 alert can be raised for the purposes of prosecuting criminal offences (36(2)) and for preventing threats to public security (36(3)).
"Requests for specific action relate to matters such as searches. Searches cannot be conducted (using SISII alone) in the UK as this would be contrary to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.
"Under UK law, the only action officers can take is a discreet check."
In terms of terrorism suspects, it says countries "can issue an alert...for those they believe are involved in terrorism related activity".
It says: "The EU is actively encouraging the use of this alert to combat the foreign fighter phenomenon.
"The alert can be used for those seeking to travel to other states to participate in terrorist activity or who are supporting the activity, through delivering funds, for example.
"The alert can also be used to track individuals who are at risk and are seeking to travel to another state because of political ideology."
When an Article 36 alert is triggered "officers should discreetly collect as much information as possible" unless an "immediate response alert" is issued in which case an "immediate" response is called for.
The UK has other databases at the border - including the UK Warnings Index, which contains a list of wanted people and criminals.
No one has confirmed whether or not Zaghba was on this Index, but it's thought to be very unlikely.
Border officials also have the power to stop non-UK nationals from entering Britain on national security grounds - but the threshold for doing so in relation to EU citizens is quite high.


Joe Allen's scoring streak continued as he grabbed both goals to hand Stoke their first win of the season at the expense of bottom side Sunderland.

The 26-year-old has now scored four times in the past three league games, having also netted for Wales in the 2-2 draw against Austria last week.
The 5ft 6in midfielder was allowed to get his head to Marko Arnautovic's cross from the left to give the Potters an eighth-minute lead.
He then added a second just before half-time with an 18-yard strike through a crowd of players.
Sunderland keeper Jordan Pickford made a good save to deny Stoke forward Wilfried Bony, who also fired wide with two 18-yard efforts.
We need to get better in all areas
The visitors' best effort fell to Jermain Defoe in the first half when his goalbound shot was brilliantly blocked by Ryan Shawcross.
It is worrying times for Sunderland manager David Moyes, whose side have only picked up two points from their first eight games.
Relive the action from the bet365 stadium
Reaction to Saturday's other Premier League games
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was happy to sell him this summer, but the signs look good for Joe Allen at his new home. His good form comes at the perfect time for his manager Mark Hughes, whose position has come under scrutiny after a poor start to the season.
Against Sunderland Allen showed a great understanding in midfield with the outstanding Arnautovic, reading the Austrian's intentions for the opener and timing his run into the area perfectly to beat the Sunderland defenders to a pinpoint cross.
His second came after more poor Black Cats defending. A Ryan Shawcross header from a corner was not adequately cleared by the visitors and the ball arrived at the feet of the Welshman who struck home a carefully-placed low shot.
"Things happen to be falling for me at the moment, so I can't complain," Allen told BBC Sport.
Stoke are 18th with six points after the win, level on points with 17th place Middlesbrough.
One shot on target was all that the visitors managed at Stoke. That was Wahbi Khazri's free-kick which was easily saved by Lee Grant.
The Stoke keeper barely got his gloves dirty with Sunderland's attacking forays often breaking down on the edge of the area.
Tunisian midfielder Khazri was their outstanding performer. He played like a veteran NFL quarterback in a team of rookie wide receivers, with neither striker Jermain Defoe nor Duncan Watmore able to read his play.
Watmore was particularly wasteful. The former Manchester United youth player produced a good run down the right in the first half, which ended with a poor cross. He then charged through the Stoke midfield in the second period but fired horribly wide instead of looking up and finding a team-mate.
The Black Cats have only managed to score six times in the league this season - it is hard to know where the goals will come from.
Stoke boss Mark Hughes:
Media playback is not supported on this device
"It has certainly been coming - that has been the overwhelming feeling within the camp.
"I think when you take the last four games into account, even against Hull and West Brom when results didn't quite go to plan, there was a marked improvement in what we produced.
"We continued that at Old Trafford and earned a tremendous point against them, and since then have been itching to get back on the pitch in front of our own supporters.
"We were able to do that today, we played with confidence and I don't think anybody can argue about the outcome of the game."
Sunderland boss David Moyes:
Media playback is not supported on this device
"We did some good things but conceded a terrible goal for the first. We played better than we had done in recent games but we had to make sure we got to half-time at 1-0 down.
"We need to get better in all areas. But what I've seen in training recently tells me we're getting there, especially with our work on the ball.
"It was an inexperienced team out there but we're trying to get them better, we're working on them.
"When you've got supporters like Sunderland you're always going to be there and be successful and they were outstanding again today."
The Black Cats are at West Ham next Saturday (15:00 BST) and Stoke are away at Hull (15:00 BST) who were defeated 6-1 by Bournemouth on Saturday.
Match ends, Stoke City 2, Sunderland 0.
Second Half ends, Stoke City 2, Sunderland 0.
Billy Jones (Sunderland) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Geoff Cameron (Stoke City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Billy Jones (Sunderland).
Attempt saved. Xherdan Shaqiri (Stoke City) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Glenn Whelan.
Attempt blocked. Javier Manquillo (Sunderland) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Victor Anichebe.
Charlie Adam (Stoke City) hits the bar with a right footed shot from outside the box. Assisted by Glenn Whelan.
Offside, Sunderland. Papy Djilobodji tries a through ball, but Victor Anichebe is caught offside.
Corner,  Stoke City. Conceded by Didier Ndong.
Attempt blocked. Charlie Adam (Stoke City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Marc Muniesa.
Jonathan Walters (Stoke City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Papy Djilobodji (Sunderland).
Ryan Shawcross (Stoke City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Victor Anichebe (Sunderland).
Substitution, Sunderland. Victor Anichebe replaces Jack Rodwell.
Foul by Glenn Whelan (Stoke City).
Steven Pienaar (Sunderland) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt saved. Wahbi Khazri (Sunderland) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top left corner.
Foul by Charlie Adam (Stoke City).
Javier Manquillo (Sunderland) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Erik Pieters (Stoke City) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Wahbi Khazri (Sunderland).
Substitution, Stoke City. Jonathan Walters replaces Wilfried Bony.
Substitution, Stoke City. Marc Muniesa replaces Joe Allen because of an injury.
Attempt missed. Wahbi Khazri (Sunderland) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.
Foul by Erik Pieters (Stoke City).
Jack Rodwell (Sunderland) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Charlie Adam (Stoke City).
Wahbi Khazri (Sunderland) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Xherdan Shaqiri (Stoke City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Javier Manquillo (Sunderland).
Offside, Stoke City. Charlie Adam tries a through ball, but Marko Arnautovic is caught offside.
Substitution, Stoke City. Charlie Adam replaces Phil Bardsley because of an injury.
Attempt missed. Duncan Watmore (Sunderland) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left.
Attempt blocked. Xherdan Shaqiri (Stoke City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Phil Bardsley.
Corner,  Stoke City. Conceded by Didier Ndong.
Attempt blocked. Marko Arnautovic (Stoke City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Joe Allen.
Foul by Wilfried Bony (Stoke City).
John O'Shea (Sunderland) wins a free kick in the defensive half.


You might think the financial crisis was caused by letting markets get too free - the financial markets, in particular.

Followers of the Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek would say exactly the opposite. In their view, it happened because the markets weren't free enough.
A few of you wrote to say last week's film on Keynes helped convince you of the case for Keynesian policies. I can't decide whether to be flattered or alarmed.
But if you were turned into a Keynesian last week, you should be sure to tune into Hayek. He could well change your mind again.
Hayek was the great free-market thinker who argued with Keynes in the 1930s over government intervention in the economy.
Hayek had the intellectual firepower to take on Keynes. He was often exasperated by the inconsistencies in Keynes' work and his tendency to change his mind - something the Cambridge economist did quite regularly, and not only "when the facts changed".
But Hayek did not have Keynes' charisma and famous powers of persuasion. (The Austrian accent didn't help.)
Also, Keynes was telling politicians that intervention by policymakers could make things better, whereas Hayek was saying they would only make things worse. In the end, that made all the difference.
Hayek wrote a best-selling polemic railing against economic planning, The Road to Serfdom, shortly after World War II.
In it, he warned that the dead hand of the bureaucrat could threaten a free society almost as much as the iron boot of Stalin. (If he had written it today, I suspect modern health and safety regulations would have featured.)
After that, Hayek had years in the intellectual wilderness, while the Keynesians bestrode the world. But there was a last great burst of fame and influence in the 1970s, when he was awarded a Nobel Prize for economics and feted by free-market politicians on both sides of the Atlantic.
Lord Patten reports in the programme how Margaret Thatcher would pull favourite Hayek quotations from her handbag at key moments during cabinet meetings.
So far, so interesting, but what can Hayek say to us right now? And why would I choose him as a Master of Money, not the other great free-market economist, Milton Friedman, who was almost certainly more influential?
In fact, I very much wanted to do a programme on Friedman too. There are modern monetarists who have interesting things to say about the crisis. But, amazingly, BBC Two did not want to broadcast four hours of economics at 21:00 on a Monday. Three was challenging enough.
Friedman has been profiled and lauded many times over the years. For this series I chose Hayek because, like Keynes - and unlike Milton Friedman - he focused on the great complexity of markets and their inherent unpredictability.
And because, unlike Keynes or Friedman, Hayek did not think policymakers could master those complexities well enough to guide the economy in the right direction.
More often than not, Hayek said, politicians would only make things worse.
Politicians had some sympathy with that view in the 1930s, when Hayek's arguments often did get a better hearing than Keynes'.  But it has been very hard for post-war leaders to swallow - even, it turns out, politicians who claim to be free-marketers.
These leaders might pay lip service to liberalising the economy and setting markets free, but in practice it has been difficult for them truly to give up the urge to meddle, even when they are convinced of the intellectual case for doing so.
Witness the difficulties that coalition ministers have had letting go of day-to-day power over the NHS, or local councils. Or, to take a very different example, the US government's decision to rescue the people who had invested in Mexican bonds, in the "Tequila Crisis" of 1994.
The free-market economist and then Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan, supported that massive US-IMF rescue package for Mexico, even though he had previously warned that protecting investors from the consequences of their mistakes would build up problems for the future, by encouraging institutions and investors to take excessive risks.
Of course, that is what many people think happened in the financial markets generally, in the years leading up to the financial crisis.
The financial system might have seemed free, these critics argue, but it was really a dangerous hybrid. In fact, the banks were free to do anything, except fail in large numbers.
That encouraged them to take out some pretty risky bets, which ended up costing us all dear. And lest there be any doubt that the safety net was there, the massive bailouts of 2008 made it crystal clear.
All of which explains why Hayek and some other Austrian economists have acquired a new generation of fans  - including the Republican Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul. They find in Hayek's writing both a convincing explanation of the financial crisis and a bracing solution.
The Hayekian explanation for the crisis says it's all down to government meddling, to policymakers not giving markets the benefit of the doubt. And the worst kind of meddling, Hayek thought, came in the government's determination to control the price of money - also known as the interest rate.
In the Austrian view, the US Federal Reserve and other central banks helped cause the financial crisis, by always cutting interest rates when the economy showed signs of faltering; for example, after the bursting of the dotcom bubble.
That might have staved off a more serious downturn. But only at the cost of encouraging people to take on debts they couldn't afford - and giving banks an incentive to take excessive risks.
This, in effect, is the argument that Hayek made against Keynes in the late 1920s and 1930s: he said the Fed caused the crash, by keeping interest rates too low and encouraging a lot of "malinvestment" - investment in projects or assets which were not economically worthwhile.
He also said that further efforts to stimulate the economy would only make things worse - especially if they meant more borrowing by government.
When it comes to the 1930s, history has not looked kindly on Hayek's arguments.  The classic study of the depression by Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz, decades later, made a convincing case that it was caused by the US central bank pumping too little money into the economy, not too much.
What's interesting to note is that Milton Friedman and John Maynard Keynes are on the same side of that argument - united against Friedrich Hayek.
Given a bump in the road, Friedman and Keynes each thought policymakers could come to the rescue. And each thought, in normal times, that monetary policy was the best way to do it.
The difference between them - much exaggerated in the historical record - was that Keynes saw a big role for fiscal policy too, particularly in the aftermath of financial crises.
What makes Hayek a different kind of free-market economist is that he distrusted both sets of policy machinery for guiding the economy - monetary and fiscal.
Maybe it was the hyperinflation he'd lived through as a young adult in Austria, in the 1920s, but he simply did not believe governments should or could iron out the bumps in the economic cycle. The only government power he had confidence in was the power to make things worse, by debauching the currency.
Hayek's view has resonance for anyone who feels uneasy about governments bailing out bankers and central banks pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into the economy.
Whether it's the European central bank lending trillions to European banks, or a third bout of quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve, it feels, to many, like these institutions are simply kicking the can down the road - deferring the moment of truth.
So you can understand why many would be turning to Austrians like Hayek for a different kind of answer. But whether any government or mainstream politician is really prepared to step back, and let the system "heal itself" - whatever the short-term consequences - is another matter. They certainly weren't in 2008.
I asked Ron Paul whether he thought Americans were ready to be "Austrians". He paused. "Well, I think you'd have to change the name," he deadpanned. "But you know, I went to Austria last year. They're completely devoted to their welfare state. I turns out, even the Austrians aren't very Austrian."
Are you? Watch the programme and find out.
Masters of Money was made with help from the Open University and is broadcast at 21:00 on Monday 24 September on BBC Two.


Few, if any, leading sports clubs can say that a top rap star has played a role in their rebirth, but that is the case with the newly founded Brooklyn Nets basketball team.

Known as the New Jersey Nets for 35 years, the team will start the new season in the famous New York borough, and in a new stadium, the Barclays Center.
Jay-Z, who owns shares in the club, has been a prime mover behind the NBA team's reincarnation, advising club executives, as well as designing club logos and apparel.
He also stars in a series of eight sold-out concerts, starting on Friday, 28 September, to open the multi-purpose venue, which will be used for everything from sporting events, to concerts, to family shows.
The music star, real name Shawn Corey Carter, was brought into the Nets fold in the mid-2000s by then-owner, and current minority stakeholder, property developer Bruce Ratner.
It was Mr Ratner who also came up with the idea of moving the team to sports-mad Brooklyn, without a major professional sports team since the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team moved to Los Angeles in 1957.
Ownership 'vision'
"When Bruce Ratner first bought the team he brought Jay-Z into the ownership structure - that showed foresight," says Brett Yormark, Brooklyn Nets chief executive.
"Jay-Z is from Brooklyn, he is of Brooklyn. So he recognised the vision when Bruce first announced his intention to come to Brooklyn."
Mr Yormark says: "Jay-Z's role with the team has evolved." And the rapper worked closely with club executives on the two new club logos - one with a shield and one with a large B - and colours.
"He is a confidant that I can reach out to - he has a tremendous understanding of current consumer trends," the Mr Yormark, 45, adds.
The move completes a near eight-year battle for Mr Yormark to get the team into its new $1bn (Â£0.6bn) home, having to overcome the global financial crisis on the way.
"We are very excited - I honestly think the Barclays Center, and the move of the Nets, has exceeded people's expectations," he says.
"It has taken time to get to Brooklyn, but on 30 April we turned the page."
That was when the red, white and blue of the New Jersey Nets was exchanged for the black and white Brooklyn look.
The Brooklyn borough is roughly 10 miles (16km) across the Hudson from Newark, New Jersey, last home of the Nets.
"It has been an incredible time since April - the public has really connected with the 'Brooklyn-isation' of our offer," Mr Yormark says.
If its population was counted separately from that of New York, then Brooklyn would be the fourth biggest city in the US, offering a large potential fan-base.
Mr Yormark says that sales of merchandise are going very well, and doing better than some long-established teams.
Demand has exceeded expectation, and Mr Yormark was also pleased to see club merchandise on sale in London during a recent visit, given that the Nets are looking to create a global fan-base.
Like all NBA teams, China is a major potential market, but for the Nets there is another specific nation they are targeting, the homeland of club majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov.
"We have an eye on Russia - that is a market we are keenly interested in," says Mr Yormark.
"Our goal is to be the home NBA team in Russia."
And whereas the club previously sold 4,000 "full season seats", during their time in New Jersey, they have sold more than 10,000 of these season tickets for the 18,000 capacity Barclays Center.
There is a wide range of tickets, to suit all incomes. At the top end there are 1,200 executive suite seats, and at the other there are 2,000 tickets available at $15.
"It is part of our message to the community - we want to make sure that anyone can attend a game," says Mr Yormark.
The Barclays Center will also provide 2,000 jobs for local people.
There are also Nets ticket packages, which call for a commitment of three years, but which allow access to tickets for other events at the Barclays Center before the general public can buy.
"This was the first product of its kind in New York," says Mr Yormark.
"If you are a business person and you know you are going to need tickets for college sport, boxing, family shows, then you know you can get them from the Nets."
He says that some 12% of the ticket base that was with the Nets in New Jersey has pledged to follow the team over in Brooklyn.
"We try to do our best for fans," says Mr Yormark. "We promised that if they stuck with us [for the last season] in New Jersey they would get first chance at the Brooklyn tickets."
Meanwhile he says that sponsorship income is up three times on last year's figure.
Barclays is the title sponsor of the new venue, and there are 12 founding partners, which include big names like American Express and Honda.
"It is an exciting time - you don't often get a chance to transfer a team into a new major market."
The move will certainly establish a local rivalry with the New York Knicks team, who the Brooklyn Nets will play in the first match of the season on 1 November.
"The first game will make for a very tremendous moment, and gives people a lot to talk about," says Mr Yormark.
The move has not been without its difficulties, with protests and political hurdles to be overcome.
But Mr Yormark sees the delays as actually having had a beneficial effect.
"I look at everything with a silver lining," he says.
"The economy is better than it was, Brooklyn is a more dynamic market than it was, the time is right to bring sport back to Brooklyn."


The final 10 members of a drug-dealing network have been given jail sentences of up to eight years at Plymouth Crown Court.

Drugs with an estimated street value of Â£1m and nearly Â£100,000 in cash were seized in the 18-month operation.
A total of 30 people have been convicted in the investigation, codenamed Operation Greaves.
Devon and Cornwall Police said the investigation had links to Plymouth, Cornwall, Manchester and Wales.
Five people from Plymouth were jailed on Friday. Jon Palmer, 23, and his 67-year-old father Leslie Palmer, both of Mannamead Road, were sentenced to eight and three years in jail respectively.
Dean Martin, 38, from Stonehouse, was jailed for eight years; while Peter Griffin, 33, from Southway, and Gemma Jefferis, 25, from Mount Gould, both received three year prison sentences.
The court also sentenced four people from the Moston area of Manchester.
Craig McCann, 25, from Jocelyn Street, was jailed for six years and six months; Daniel Agombar, 24, from Sedgeford Road, was jailed for five years; Tony Connolly, 50, from Portwood Walk, was sentenced to two years and six months; and Lee Briggs, 40, from Moston Lane, for two years.
Blake Donnellan, 26, from Downs View, in Bude, Cornwall, who police have described as the "lynchpin" of the operation was jailed for 15 years earlier this year. On Friday he received an additional six years for other charges, to run concurrently.


The vote to Leave the EU is not the end of the world for the UK economy, an economic advisor to the Welsh Government has said.

Kevin Gardiner said some are being "perhaps unduly pessimistic" after the vote to leave the EU.
His comments come as Welsh Government Economy Secretary Ken Skates said leaving the single market would make it "more difficult to attract investors".
Plaid Cymru has accused the Welsh Government of having no Brexit plan.
Mr Gardiner, who serves on the Welsh Government's financial and professional services sector panel which provides advice to ministers, said: "From an economic perspective it probably would have been better for UK business generally and business in Wales to have voted to have stayed in the community.
"Is it the end of the world? I think not.
"I think the UK is quite capable of thriving, and Wales within that, particularly given the competitive advantage that Cardiff has relative to the rest of the UK."
"I think people are being perhaps unduly pessimistic about what the future holds," he said.
"In the very short term, the currency has come down, the pound is a lot cheaper than it was," he said.
"Companies looking to invest in the UK, looking to develop an exporting business from the UK, looking to hire people, they are finding that the cost of doing business in the UK relative to the rest of the world, relative even to the rest of Europe, has come down a little. That will help a bit."
Speaking at a joint Institute of Welsh Affairs and Capital Law conference in Cardiff, Mr Skates said 2015 was the second best year on record for foreign direct investment.
But he said that "most foreign investors identify membership of the single market as the single key biggest factor for them investing here".
"If we leave that market, then it will become more difficult to attract investors," he said.
"In the short term we need to address uncertainty that has arisen globally, not just within Europe, not just within Wales, about what it means for the world. "
Asked if foreign companies were more likely to invest in EU member states rather than Wales, the economy secretary said: "Not necessarily.
"As Aston Martin rightly pointed out when they decided to come to Wales, we have a small nimble, dynamic, agile government, we were able to respond quickly."
Plaid shadow economy minister Adam Price said he was "shocked and dismayed" at the government's reaction to the referendum result.
Plaid is calling for infrastructure investment, increased funding to replace EU programmes and new tax powers.
Mr Price said: "I've been shocked and dismayed by the fact the cupboard is bare.
"There is no contingency plan.
"We were calling for this some weeks ago when it was clear to us there was a real possibility of the UK leaving the EU and the potential impact that would have on Wales.
"We really need a sense from Welsh Government that there is an action plan for Wales.
"Where's the plan now which actually can give confidence to business and to people in Wales however they voted that actually we have a  plan going forward that can mitigate some of the impact there's going to be on Wales whatever the terms of the eventual Brexit deal.
"Wales needs a Marshall Plan for the Welsh economy."
The Marshall Plan was a programme of funding given to Western Europe by the United States after the Second World War.


Crawley have signed defender Andre Blackman on a one-year deal following a successful trial at the club.

Blackman, a former AFC Wimbledon and Plymouth player, has featured in three pre-season matches for the Red Devils.
"Andre has really impressed me and looked very good physically," head coach Dermot Drummy said.
The 25-year-old has also previously played for Bristol City, Celtic, Inverness and Blackpool before he was released in the summer of 2015.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


Chester have sacked manager Steve Burr after one win in 10 National League games left them in a relegation fight.

Burr, 56, took charge in January 2014, initially until the end of that season, before agreeing a two-year contract.
Chester are 17th in the table, four points above the relegation zone, with four matches remaining.
"Given the recent extended run of poor form and results we believe this is in the club's best interests," a club statement said.
"As a fan-owned club this has not been an easy decision for us to make.
"We thank Steve for his contribution over the last two years and wish him well for the future."
First-team coach Jon McCarthy will take the remaining games alongside captain Ian Sharps, starting at Lincoln City on Saturday.


The 2016 BRIT Awards nominations were announced last night at a ceremony in London.

15 January 2016 Last updated at 11:26 GMT
Adele, Years & Years and James Bay lead the way at this year's awards, which will take place on 24 February, after being nominated for four prizes each.
Leah was at the special nominations ceremony in London and spoke to some of the lucky stars on the red carpet.


Millions watch her YouTube beauty videos, now it seems Zoella's success has transferred to the literary world.

The vlogger's book Girl Online has become the fastest selling debut novel since records began.
She tweeted she was "blown away" after more than 78,000 copies were picked up in its first week.
That's more than Harry Potter author JK Rowling and EL James, who wrote 50 Shades of Grey, achieved with their debuts.
The record is the highest since Nielsen BookScan began collecting information on the book market in 1998, according to The Bookseller.
Girl Online, which is the first of a two-book deal with Zoella and Penguin, is also the fastest-selling hardback of 2014.
It's been a busy year for Zoella - or Zoe Sugg.
The 24-year-old was signed up to be a part of a BBC Radio 1 show with presenters Dan and Phil, won a Radio 1 Teen Award for best British vlogger and was asked by Bob Geldof to sing on the Band Aid 30 track Do They Know It's Christmas?
She is also fast approaching seven million followers on YouTube, not to mention her two million Twitter followers and 3.5 million followers on Instagram.
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube.


England face defeat in the second Test against South Africa after a reckless batting display on day two.

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Even though captain Joe Root sparkled for 78, the home side were bowled out for 205, losing their last seven wickets for 62 runs.
Chris Morris and Keshav Maharaj each took three wickets, while Vernon Philander impressed for 2-48.
South Africa, bowled out for 335 in their first innings, closed on 75-1, a lead of 205 at Trent Bridge.
Barring a remarkable collapse followed by an incredible improvement in England's batting, the Proteas will level the four-match series at 1-1.
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Root aside, England's batting showed none of the patience, application or determination to repel a South Africa attack that had the benefit of helpful conditions - and even Jonny Bairstow's 45 was tinged with fortune.
Philander, swinging the ball on a full length, was a particular threat, ending a stand of 83 between Root and Gary Ballance (27) by squeezing through the left-hander's flimsy defence.
After Root fell, left-arm spinner Maharaj and paceman Morris worked through the middle and lower order.
Maharaj had Ben Stokes caught behind, found turn to bowl Bairstow and got Liam Dawson to top-edge a sweep to short fine leg.
Moeen Ali loosely drove Morris to short cover, with Stuart Broad pinned lbw next ball and a fending Mark Wood caught at second slip.
Root made 190 in the first Test at Lord's, his first as captain, and, if anything, parts of this knock were even more impressive, given the circumstances.
He arrived at 3-2 after England lost two wickets in two balls - Alastair Cook caught behind via an inside edge off Philander and Keaton Jennings edging a beauty from Morne Morkel - and immediately earned a cheer from the crowd by clipping his first ball for three.
What followed was some dazzling strokeplay, square of the wicket on both sides, made all the more remarkable given the assistance offered to the bowlers in the air and off the pitch.
Root's 40-ball half-century tied Graham Gooch's mark as the quickest by an England captain in a Test.
When he played an airy drive to edge Morkel, Root departed in a fury, and the rest of his team followed in meek fashion.
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England perhaps failed to exploit the conditions on day one, erring on the short side, but that was corrected by James Anderson's wonderful swing bowling on the second morning.
Hooping the ball, Anderson took 4-4 in 16 deliveries to complete figures of 5-72 as South Africa crumbled from their overnight 309-6.
He took the applause for a seventh five-wicket haul on this ground, but was back bowling again before the end of the day.
Anderson had Heino Kuhn caught at second slip, the 15th wicket to fall in the day, only for Dean Elgar and Hashim Amla to add 57 and give England a lesson on the approach to Test batting.
Ex-England batsman Geoffrey Boycott on TMS: "England were rubbish! Absolute tripe. They played a batsmen less and an extra spinner - and look, it's the seamers doing the damage.
"Get a microphone out and take it round the public and ask them what they think about England's batting. In four hours they have lost the game. It's poor."
Former England spinner Graeme Swann on TMS: "The England bowlers will get some criticism for not looking as threatening as South Africa's but the attack are tired.
"When you have only had three or four hours with your feet up it's tough to come out and do it again.
"I feel for England's bowlers. England look down and out and defeated now, there is not a lot of energy there.
"They need to be positive and believe they can bowl South Africa out for under 200. And they can!"
South Africa's Chris Morris: "I'm never surprised by how England bat. They are quite an attacking team and that is where their success has come recently.
"They are a good batting team. Sometimes it will work and sometimes it won't. Fortunately for us it was our day."


Prime Minister Donald Tusk has become the first Polish leader to be re-elected since the end of communism.

Officials results, announced after 93% of votes had been counted, gave Mr Tusk's Civic Platform party enough seats to continue in coalition.
The centre-right Civic Platform took 39% of the vote, against 30% for its conservative challenger, the Law and Justice Party.
The leader of Law and Justice, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, has admitted defeat.
Civic Platform becomes the first Polish party to win two consecutive terms since communism's fall in 1989.
Mr Tusk, 54, appears to have been rewarded for presiding over four years of strong economic growth, since winning a snap election in 2007.
Poland has been the only EU member state to avoid recession, and this year its economy is forecast to grow by about 4%, the highest rate among the EU's seven largest economies.
The electoral commission said Civic Platform's 39% would translate into 206 seats in the 460-member lower chamber.
By Adam EastonBBC News, Warsaw
Poland's elections produced two significant firsts - a governing party was re-elected for the first time since the collapse of communism in 1989 and a new anti-clerical party, Palikot's Movement, won third place.
Donald Tusk's Civic Platform was probably rewarded for its predictability. It did not run an especially impressive campaign, but more voters seem to place their trust in its ability to handle the second wave of the global crisis than any of its rivals. Its focus on Europe is also appreciated by many.
Janusz Palikot is an extrovert businessman who wants a clear separation of Church and state. He created a party based around himself and campaigned on legalising abortion, gay marriage and marijuana.
Those are still extremely controversial issues in Poland, where the Roman Catholic Church remains influential. Mr Palikot's support among younger voters is perhaps a sign that Polish society is heading in a more liberal and secular direction.
Mr Tusk's coalition ally, the People's Party, won 8.6% of the vote, or 30 seats.
Law and Justice won 157 seats; a new liberal pro-secular party, Palikot's Movement, came third with 10%, giving it 40 seats; the Democratic Left Alliance was the fifth party to make it into parliament, taking 8.2% and 26 seats.
Mr Tusk said he would work on forming a governing coalition on Monday.
He is expected to renew his alliance with his current partner, the agrarian-rooted People's Party, which has said it is willing to team up with the Civic Platform again if an offer is made.
He campaigned on his economic success and also vowed to pursue a steady rapprochement with Russia, despite rows over missile defence and gas pipelines as well as the conduct of an inquiry into a plane crash that killed Poland's president last year.
"It is the highest honour for me and for Civic Platform that we will be working for the next four years for all of you, regardless of who you voted for today," Mr Tusk told supporters on Sunday.
"In the next four years we will work twice as hard," he said, according to AP news agency.
The Law and Justice Party's Jaroslaw Kaczynski is known for his mistrust of the two countries which invaded Poland during World War II, Germany and the USSR. He also attracts support from Polish Eurosceptics.
"I am deeply convinced that the day will come when we will succeed," Mr Kaczynski said. "Sooner or later we'll win because we are simply in the right."
The 62-year-old served as prime minister from 2005 to 2007, with his twin brother, Lech, as president. Lech Kaczynski died in a plane crash with 95 others in April 2010.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski competed in the snap presidential polls which followed, but lost to Mr Tusk's ally Bronislaw Komorowski.


More must be done to prevent crashes on a dual carriageway where a mother and three children died in an eight-vehicle pile-up, campaigners have said.

The A34 Action Group was set up after the crash between Chieveley and East Ilsley, in Berkshire, on 10 August.
Among the ideas discussed at a meeting on Wednesday were cutting the speed limit from 70mph and making it a three-lane carriageway.
Highways England said it always worked to identify safety improvements.
Recent figures revealed the A34, which runs between Hampshire and Oxfordshire, was closed more than once a month last year because of accidents involving fatalities or serious injuries.
Campaigner Alisdair Cunningham, who set up the group, said: "We will go away and understand and collate all the feelings that have come out tonight, in a sensible and organised fashion and produce a report for the relevant authorities.
"We also want to do our own research and hopefully come up with our own ideas for how to campaign to make this road safer."
The girlfriend of a man killed in a separate collision on the road is also calling for tougher speed restrictions.
Megan Williamson wants the speed limit cut to 50mph after her partner Gavin Roberts died following a crash near the Compton junction in Oxfordshire in June.
"People treat it like a motorway and it is a very narrow road," she said.
Richard Benyon, MP for Newbury, has also written to Highways England requesting a safety review of the road.
Tracy Houghton, 45, from Dunstable, her two sons, Ethan, 13, and Joshua, 11, and her partner's daughter Aimee Goldsmith, 11, died last week when their car collided with a lorry.
A 30-year-old man from Andover has been bailed on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.


An environmentalist has lost a court case against the route of a major road scheme close to landscape made famous by poet Seamus Heaney.

Chris Murphy had gone to court to contest the route of the A6 dual carriageway at Toomebridge.
A section of the Â£160m new road skirts Lough Beg just outside the County Antrim village.
It is an important habitat for birds, including migratory swans, and has international protection.
Mr Murphy had claimed that the proper environmental checks had not been done and the decision to proceed had been based on out-of-date surveys.
But lawyers for the Department of Infrastructure had argued that the assessments were based on accurate and regularly-updated information.
They said the chosen route did not cut through the protected wetland.
The judge found the appropriate assessments had been carried out and the decision to proceed with the road had been rational and lawful.
Mr Murphy told the court he may appeal as he believed there was a case in law to be argued. There is a six-week window for an appeal.
In a statement, the Department of Infrastructure said it would progress work on the road as soon as possible.
"Today's decision means 18,000 road users and the local community are set to directly benefit as the new dual carriageway will reduce journey times and improve road safety," it said.
"The scheme is predicted to result in a saving of almost 600 collisions over its 60 year economic life.
"The ruling has also recognised the care and attention we take, with the statutory environmental bodies, to preserve, protect and develop environmentally sensitive areas under consideration for road development."


Prison guards have shot dead 17 inmates after a mass breakout at Buimo prison in Papua New Guinea.

Three prisoners have been recaptured while 57 others managed to escape and remain at large.
Authorities have warned that the escaped inmates, some of them still awaiting trial, pose a serious threat to the safety of the area.
The prison in Lae, Papua New Guinea's second largest city, has seen repeated similar escapes over the past years.
"The majority of those who escaped were arrested for serious crimes and were in custody awaiting trial," police Chief SuperÂinÂtendent Anthony Wagambie was quoted in several local media.
"A good number were arrested by police last year for mainly armed robberies, car thefts, break and enter and stealing. Among them are convicted prisoners."
He warned the escapees that they would be caught and encouraged them to surrender themselves to community leaders, church elders or family members to then be taken back to prison.
Prisons in Papua New Guinea often suffer from overcrowding, poor conditions and long waiting periods for prisoners awaiting trial.
In 2016, at least 11 prisoners were shot dead and more than 70 escaped when they stormed the main gate, overpowering the guards.
The previous year, some 50 prisoners managed to escaped in a similar way.


The Queen has called Commonwealth members "guardians of a precious flame" in a message to mark Commonwealth Day.

She attended a service at Westminster Abbey where her message was played to a congregation of dignitaries and faith leaders.
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were joined by the Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
More than 1,000 children were also invited to attend the service.
In the message, which was also broadcast by radio in Commonwealth countries, the Queen hailed the organisation's continuing role, saying what its member states shared was more important now than at any point in its history.
"Not only are there tremendous rewards for this co-operation, but through dialogue we protect ourselves against the dangers that can so easily arise from a failure to talk or to see the other person's point of view," the Queen said.
"Indeed, it seems to me that now, in the second decade of the 21st Century, what we share through being members of the Commonwealth is more important and worthy of protection than perhaps at any other time in the Commonwealth's existence.
"We are guardians of a precious flame, and it is our duty not only to keep it burning brightly but to keep it replenished for the decades ahead."
The Queen said the shared history of the Commonwealth's members meant they could act on the "huge advantages of mutual co-operation and understanding" to benefit their citizens.
"As a concept that is unique in human history, the Commonwealth can only flourish if its ideas and ideals continue to be young and fresh and relevant to all generations," she said.


A man has been arrested on suspicion of raping a woman in her 70s who was attacked in her own home.

The woman answered the door to her home in Russell Hill Road, Purley, south London, to find a man outside, police said.
He used his foot to force the door open and barged in to her home. He first assaulted her before raping her.
A 46-year-old man was arrested on Saturday on suspicion of rape and remains in police custody.


Jazz Carlin became the first Welsh woman to win Commonwealth Games gold in the pool in 40 years when she eased to victory in the 800m freestyle.

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The 23-year-old beat her Games record, clocking eight minutes 18.11 seconds.
England's Sophie Taylor, 18, won gold in the 100m breaststroke final, with team-mate Ollie Hynd, 19, taking the Para-sport 200m individual medley SM8.
Aimee Willmott, 21, and Adam Peaty, 19, added silvers for England in the 200m butterfly and 50m breaststroke.
And England's Adam Barrett, 21, ended the session with bronze in the 100m butterfly.
Welsh celebrations were perhaps more pronounced given Carlin, from Swansea, was the first woman from her nation to win a Games swimming title since Pat Bevan in the 200m breaststroke in Christchurch in 1974.
It was Wales' fourth swimming medal of Glasgow 2014 and Carlin now has a complete set of Commonwealth Games medals, having won silver and bronze in Delhi in 2010.
"I'm just so happy to come away with the gold," she said of a race in which Scotland's Hannah Miley, 24, and Camilla Hattersley, 19, were fifth and seventh respectively.
New Zealand's Lauren Boyle, 26, took silver and Canada's Brittany MacLean, 20, bronze.
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"I can't believe it, I really can't," added Carlin. "I put everything into my training this year. The support has been overwhelming and obviously I'm just so glad."
Harrogate's Taylor, meanwhile, had trailed at the turn in the 100m breaststroke but roared back to beat Australia's Lorna Tonks, 25, and Alia Atkinson, 25, of Jamaica in a time of 1:06.35. Scotland's Katie Armitage, 18, was eighth.
Uttoxeter's Peaty - who won the 100m breaststroke on Saturday, could not quite produce a similar comeback in the 50m breaststroke, finishing two hundredths of a second behind world-record holder Cameron van der Burgh.
The 26-year-old South African's time of 26.76secs enhanced the Games record he set in the semi-finals.
Scotland's Mark Tully, 22, was denied bronze by just one hundredth of a second, third place going to Cristian Sprenger, 28, of Australia.
Tully's team-mates Ross Murdoch, 20, and Joe Welstead, 24, were sixth and seventh respectively.
Middlesbrough's Willmott - who was runner-up in Thursday's 400m individual medley behind Miley - claimed her second silver in the 200m butterfly.
Canadian Audrey Lacroix, 30, earned gold and Australia's Maddie Groves, 19, took bronze, with the Welsh duo of Alys Thomas, 23, and Jemma Lowe, 24, fourth and fifth respectively. Scotland's Miley finished sixth.
England's fifth swimming medal of the night came with bronze from Barrett in the 100m butterfly.
The Reading athlete qualified fastest for the final but could not thwart South Africa's Olympic champion Chad le Clos, 22.
Clos added to his gold in the 200m, silvers in the 50m and 4x100m free and bronze in 4x200m free, in a Games-record time of 51.29secs.
Joseph Schooling, 19, won bronze for Singapore and England's James Guy, 18, was sixth.
In the other two events Australians filled the podium, with England's 50m freestyle and 50m butterfly champion Fran Halsall denied a third medal at Tollcross when she finished fourth in the 100m freestyle.
Australia's Cate Campbell, 22, posted a Games record of 52.68secs to win ahead of sister Bronte, 20. Team-mate Emma McKeon, 20, won bronze.
And in the 200m backstroke, Australia's Mitch Larkin, the 21-year-old who took silver in both the 50m and 100m, earned gold ahead of Josh Beaver, 21, and Matson Lawson, 22.
Scotland's Craig McNally, 21, was some way short of his personal best in fifth, one place ahead of team-mate Ryan Bennett, the 23-year-old who represented England in Delhi four years ago.
Welshman Xavier Mohammed, 24, was eighth.


Finance ministers from the world's biggest economies have dropped an anti-protectionist commitment after opposition from the US.

G20 ministers left the two-day meeting without renewing their long-standing  pledge to bolster free trade.
Last year, the group of the world's 20 largest economies vowed to "resist all forms of protectionism".
But since then, President Donald Trump has taken office, and is aggressively pursuing an "America First" policy.
His policies include penalties for companies which manufacture their products abroad.
Speaking after the meeting ended, US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said he would not read too much into his country's desire to change the language behind the comminique, as "what was as in the past" releases was "not relevant".
Mr Mnuchin added he had been "very clear that we do believe in free trade but we believe in balanced trade".
The communique, which was published at the end of the meeting in Baden-Baden with the agreement of all attending delegates, also failed to include a vow on climate change.
Mr Trump has already promised to slash environmental funding.
The exclusion of the two issues in the communique was disappointing, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said.
"I regret that our discussions today were unable to reach a satisfying conclusion on two absolutely essential priorities that our world and which France would have liked to see the G20 continue to take firm and concerted action on."
However, it did include pledges on a determination to fight tax avoidance, clamp down on terrorist financing and strengthen private investment in Africa.
It started so well. With the sun shining in the German spa town of Baden-Baden, the first annual meeting of the G20 got under way with a reassurance from the US Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin that the White House was not interested in instigating international trade wars.
The combined efforts of Germany, and nascent free-trade champions China, it was thought, would temper some of Washington's threats of imposing punishing border tariffs and renegotiating long-standing trade agreements.
But two days later, the communique approved by all the assembled finance ministers was published without a commitment to bolster free trade and dropped a pledge to "resist all forms of protectionism" from the previous year's document.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble said the meeting had reached an impasse when it came to the issue, and added that his counterparts could not  "force partners" - read the United States - "to go along with wording with which they don't agree".
Mr Schauble insisted that there had been "a lot of goodwill" at the meeting, but whether that goodwill extends to the future trade relationship with the world's largest economy is now very much in doubt.


Motorists have been warned to expect delays following a police "incident" on one of Cardiff's busiest roads.

South Wales Police is currently dealing with the incident at Western Avenue, underneath the Gabalfa interchange.
Western Avenue eastbound and westbound is closed to traffic travelling below the interchange.
Diversions are in place.