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WELSH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 



WELSH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 



8B3 



ported by Dr. Joseph Harris, the Baptist editor of the ' Seren Gomer,' 

 and conducted and enlivened by lolo Morgan \vg, who completely took 

 the lead and put in practice many of the ideas which appear in the 

 notes to his ' Ode on Primrose Hill." This Eisteddvod was so successful 

 as to form an epoch in their history, and ever since they have been 

 becoming more frequent and more popular. The idea at the basis of 

 such meetings, that of holding a sort of Fair for poetry and music, is 

 one that was practised in the " singer's festivals " of the Minne-siugers 

 and the floral games of the Troubadours, and even among the Arabs 

 before Mohammed, whose poetical rivalries at the fair of Ocadh gave 

 rise to the ' Moallakat,' which are some of the most classical com- 

 positions of Arabic literature. The same principle received a new 

 application in the Fairs for Science introduced by Oken in Germany 

 in 1822, on the model of a meeting of naturalists in Switzerland 

 in 1815, and the idea was imported from Germany to England by 

 the foundation of the British Association in 1831. Meetings of agri- 

 culturists, archaeologists, orientalists, men of science, and others, are 

 now held in many parts of Europe, but fairs for poetry and author- 

 ship appear to be still peculiar in modern times to Wales and Pro- 

 vence. A distinct idea of the nature of an Eisteddvod may be most 

 readily obtained by observing the proceedings at one of the most 

 successful of them that held at Llangollen in the autumnal equinox 

 of 1 858. The meeting took place at the equinox, in obedience to alleged 

 bardic custom, and was consequently rather too late in the year, so 

 that there were several days of rain. A pavilion was erected on the 

 bowling-green adjacent to the Ponsonby Arms Hotel, at Llangollen, 

 so spacious as to be capable of containing five thousand persons ; and 

 at the last meeting it is stated that this pavilion was "literally 

 crammed, with such an assembly as was scarcely, if ever, witnessed in 

 the Principality." On the first day the proceedings commenced with 

 a procession of Bards, Druids, Ovates, and others, with the members 

 of the three orders attired in their distinctive costumes the bards 

 in a loose habit of blue, the druids in snowy white, and the ovates 

 in green. The procession led to a spot where three hugh stones were 

 placed in the order /|\ . " These lines, or pencils of light, as they 

 are termed, form," we are told in the Report, " the mystic symbol 

 known amongst the bards and druids as the name of God the 

 ' Word' or attribute of creation it being held by the bards that God 

 created the universe by showing and pronouncing His own name." 

 It will be remembered that seventy years ago this tradition, such as 

 it is, was unheard-of in Wales, and only existed in an unpublished 

 manuscript. The Kev. John Williams ab Ithel, presiding bard of 

 the Eisteddvod, stood on the central stone within a circle, and de- 

 livered an addres, received with " frequent marks of applause," to 

 the effect that the Cymry succeeded beyond all other nations in keep- 

 ing the ancient religion of Noah uncorrupted till the coming of 

 the Messiah, when " they received the Gosjwl as the superstructure 

 or completion of Druidism, and their ancient system was clothed 

 with Christianity." A ceremony then took place of receiving and 

 admitting candidates for the orders of bards, druids, and ovates. In 

 the course of the day, speeches were delivered, and various essays 

 were read which had been determined to be the best sent in to 

 compete for prizes. One of these prizes was of twenty-five pounds, 

 offered by the young men of Llangollen, for the best treatise on 

 the mineral resources of Wales, with the stipulation that if the 

 successful composition should be in English, it should be translated 

 into Welsh at the author's expense. The prize was adjudged to 

 an essay signed " Didascaloe ; " and the author being called for, appeared 

 in the person of the Rev. John Jones, Baptist minister of Llangollen, 

 who was publicly presented with the prize by Miss Williams ab 

 Ithel. The proceedings of the day terminated with a concert, at which 

 about three thousand persons attended, to admire Mr. Ellis Roberta's 

 performance on the harp, laugh at Owen Alaw's comic song of " Hen 

 Forgan a' i Wraig" (Old Morgan and his Wife), and enjoy similar 

 festivities. On the second day, an English gentleman, Mr. Kenward, 

 recited some lines of a poem on ' English .Sympathy with Wales ; ' 

 but, say the reporters, " a feeling of impatience being manifested by 

 the Welsh portion of the audience who did not understand English, 

 Mr. Kenward, felt reluctant to read the whole, and retired from the plat- 

 form." Another English gentleman remonstrated, and Ab Ithel came 

 forward to inform the meeting that Mr. Kenward was a person who 

 I .re -eminently " loved our nation," and had been most indefatigable in 

 collecting subscriptions for the Eisteddvod, on which he was allowed 

 to proceed through about twenty stanzas. More speeches and Pennil- 

 lion singing followed, and an adjudication of the prize of 301. for an 

 Ode in Welsh on " the Battle of Bosworth Field, by which the Cymry 

 recovered the monarchy of the isle of Britain." On another day the 

 main feature was the presentation of a " Cambrian gold torque of 

 valour " to Corporal Shields, of the Welsh Fusileers, who had fought 

 in the Crimea. Close to Llangollen, on the summit of a hill, are the ruins 

 of Dinas Bran, a name sometimes translated " Crow's Castle," Bran being 

 the Welsh word for " crow," but supposed to take its origin from the 

 mountain-torrent, Bran, which runs beneath. Some antiquaries have 

 absurdly supposed the castle to be named after Brennus, king of the 

 Gauls, and the Rev. R. W. Morgan, in presenting the torque, took occasion 

 to mention it thus : " Corporal .Shields in a'Cymro, the representative of 

 a race that from the earliest ages has been distinguished by two grand 

 characteristics profound religious feeling, and chivalry in the field. 

 AKTS AMD SCI. D1V. Vol.. VIII. 



Towering above us, frown the ruins of the castle of one of the earliest 

 of the great conquerors of mankind. Bran or Brennus. the captor of the 

 Eternal City, the founder of the Cisalpine empire and its civilisation, 

 the first general that, long antecedent to Hannibal, crossed the glaciers 

 and snows of the Alps, and vanquished the opposing bulwarks of Nature 

 herself. (Loud cheers.)" Choral singing, contentions with the harp, 

 impromptu poetical contests, recitations of the speech of Caractacus by 

 boys, competitions of the best female singers to the harp, and the best 

 female harpists, filled up the remainder of the four days durig which 

 the Eisteddvod lasted, each day concluding with a concert. The 

 devotion to the charms of poetry and music, which was shown by so 

 large a population, many of the peasant class, was certainly a high mark 

 of civilisation and refinement of character ; but the patriotism of many 

 of the speeches was of the spurious kind, which is as ready to boast of 

 the false as the true, and the semi-religious character of many of the 

 proceedings presented still graver matter of objection. There seems 

 too much resemblance between the adherents of the Book of Llewelyn 

 Sion of Llangewyd and the believers in the Book of Mormon, who are 

 unhappily numerous in Wales. 



One speech at an Eisteddvod, of a different character from those 

 usually delivered, contains some remarks which, though expressed in 

 rough and homely terms, it would be well for Cymric patriots to 

 consider. They occur in the Welsh portion of the works of the 

 modern Talhaiam, in the report of a speech delivered at an Eis- 

 teddvod at Llanfairtalhaiam : " It is the greatest folly in us to shout 

 out that we are at the head of the world in poetry and prose. It 

 is a very great mistake ; for the fact is the Saxons beat us all to 

 pieces in poetry, philosophy, and all kinds of learning. Do you think 

 I say this to hurt or insult my country or my nation ? Nothing of the 

 kind. I reverence and love them both, nor will I ever go about to seek 

 to find fault with either. Neither will I soil my lips with an untruth 

 to please any man, nor will I do an injustice to my neighbour by 

 boasting of what is really nothing to boast of. If you could all read 

 Shakspeare, Milton, Byron, and Burns, the ' Times," and ' Blackwood's 

 Magazine,' and some other authors, magazines, and newspapers, you 

 would all believe with me that the Saxons are much our superiors. 

 Well, you will say, and have not we a literature ? Yes, most certainly, 

 and an excellent literature too, considering that Wales is but a little 

 corner of the world. My only purpose was to wean you from the silly 

 boast that we are at the head of the world in literature ; there never 

 was such nonsense." 



The formation of a library of ancient Welsh manuscripts on a 

 liberal and extensive scale in the possession of a public establishment 

 appears an object greatly to be desired. The history of the fate of 

 Welsh manuscripts during the last two centuries affords ample proof 

 of the danger to collections of this kind' in private hands, to say 

 nothing of the fact that in many cases all access to the manuscripts 

 has been denied to the very men, such as Lhuyd, who would have 

 made the best use of them, and that in all cases there is necessarily 

 a delicacy of intruding on the courtesy of a private proprietor. The 

 number of libraries destroyed by fire has been unusually large in the 

 case of the country gentlemen of Wales. The collection of transcripts 

 by Lhuyd, which, after his death, was unfortunately declined both 

 by the University of Oxford and by Jesus College, passed into the 

 hands of Sir Thomas Sebright, by purchase, and was long afterwards 

 divided by sale between the libraries of Hafod and Wynnstay. The 

 portion in the splendid collection of Colonel Johnes, at Hafod, perished 

 with that collection in the fire of 1807. The portion belonging to 

 the Wynnes was almost entirely destroyed by a tire at a bookbinder's 

 in London, and the conflagration of Wynnstay itself, in 1858, probably 

 consumed the remainder, as on that occasion only the books that had 

 been casually sent to a bookbinder's in London were saved. In the 

 preface to the ' Myvyrian Archaiology ' is given a list of the libraries 

 public and private in Wales, London, and Oxford, in which valuable 

 Welsh collections were preserved, amounting to twenty-five in number. 

 Four of these libraries were in London, that of the British Museum, 

 of the Welsh School, in Gray's Inn Lane, of Mr. Owen Jones, the 

 originator of the ' Myvyrian Archaiology,' and of Mr. Edward Jones, 

 author of the ' Relics of British Bards.' Three of these are now 

 united, the collections of the Welsh School and Owen Jones having 

 been presented to the British Museum in 1843. These books are thus 

 preserved in one collection under public care, and it would be 

 most conducive to the interests of literature if others were to follow. 

 Some of the perpetual disputes about the accuracy of the trans- 

 cripts of lolo Morganwg which agitate Welsh literature might be 

 settled at once if the ' Book of Aberpergwm ' were in a collection 

 where any one might examine it. It is stated in the ' Myvyrian 

 Archaiology,' in 1801, that the editors had some hope that the Earl of 

 Macclesfield would deposit in the Museum the collection of manuscripts 

 made by the learned Moses Williams, and which Williams had be- 

 queathed to Mr. Jones, father of the celebrated Sir William Jones, 

 who bequeathed them to the then Earl of Macclesliekl, with the singular 

 injunction not to show them to any person whatever. These manuscripts 

 however are still in the possession of the noble family of Macclesfield. 

 The famous library of the Vaughans, at Hengwrt, in Merionethshire, 

 is now united with the collection of Mr. W. E. Wynne, of Peniarth, 

 M.P., for Merioneth, to whom it was bequeathed by his friend the 

 late Sir U. W. Vaughan. 



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