The Poetry of Wales | Page 2

their metres among
aboriginal temples and spreading groves of oak. The bard was an
important member of the royal household, for the court was not
complete without the Bard President, the Chief of Song, and the
Domestic Bard. The laws of Hywel the Good, King or Prince of Wales
in the tenth century, enact:--
"If there should be fighting, the bard shall sing 'The Monarchy of
Britain' in front of the battle."
"The Bard President shall sit at the Royal Table."

"When a bard shall ask a gift of a prince, let him sing one piece; when
he asks of a baron, let him sing three pieces."
"His land shall be free, and he shall have a horse in attendance from the
king."
"The Chief of Song shall begin the singing in the common hall."
"He shall be next but one to the patron of the family."
"He shall have a harp from the king, and a gold ring from the queen
when his office is secured to him. The harp he shall never part with."
"When a song is called for, the Bard President should begin; the first
song shall be addressed to God, the next to the king. The Domestic
Bard shall sing to the queen and royal household."
The bard therefore in ancient times performed important functions. In
peace he delighted his lord with songs of chivalry, love and friendship.
In war he accompanied his prince to battle, and recited the might and
prowess of his leader and the martial virtue of his hosts. No court or
hall was complete without the presence of the bard, who enlivened the
feast with his minstrelsy and song. We also see that the Welsh bard,
like the primitive poets of Greece, and the troubadours of southern
France, sang his verses to the harp, whose dulcet strings have always
sent forth the national melodies. The chief bards were attached to the
courts and castles of their princes and chieftains; but a multitude of
inferior minstrels wandered the country singing to their harps, and were
in those primitive times received with open arms and welcome
hospitality in the houses of the gentry, and whither soever they went.
Even within living memory the English tourist has often met in the
lonely dells and among the mountain passes of Wales the wayworn
minstrel, with harp strung to his shoulders, ever ready to delight the
traveller with the bewitching notes of his lyre and song. But the modern
bard of Wales is the counterpart of his Scottish brother, of whom Scott
wrote:--
"The way was long, the wind was cold,
The minstrel was infirm and

old;
His withered cheeks and tresses gray
Seemed to have known a
better day;
The harp, his sole remaining joy,
Was carried by an
orphan boy.

No more on prancing palfry borne,
He carolled light as lark at morn;

No longer courted and caress'd,
High placed in hall, a welcome
guest,
He poured to lord and lady gay
The unpremeditated lay."
Nor will the modern visitor to the castles and halls of the Principality,
not to mention its principal hotels, often miss the dulcet strains of the
national lyre.
The song and minstrelsy of Wales have from the earliest period of its
history been nurtured by its eisteddfodau. It is ascertained that the
Prince Bleddyn ap Kynfyn held an eisteddfod in A.D. 1070, which was
attended by the bards and chief literati of the time. This eisteddfod
made rules for the better government of the bardic order. This annual
assemblage of princes, bards and literati has been regularly held
through the intervening centuries to the present time. Within living
memory royalty has graced this national gathering of the ancient British
race.
The ceremonies attendant upon this national institution are well known.
The president or chief, followed by the various grades of the bardic
order, walk in procession (_gorymdaith_) to the place appointed, where
twelve stones are laid in a circle, with one in the centre, to form a
_gorsedd_ or throne. When the whole order is assembled, the chief of
bards ascends the _gorsedd_, and from his laurel and flower-bedecked
chair opens the session, by repeating aloud the mottoes of the order,
viz.: "_Y gwir yn erbyn y byd_, _yn ngwyneb haul a llygad goleuni_,"
or "The truth against the world, in the face of the sun and the eye of
light," meaning that the proceedings, judgments and awards of the
order are guided by unswerving truth, and conducted in an open forum
beneath the eyes of the public. Then follow verses laudatory of the
president. Poetical compositions, some of a very high order, are then
rehearsed or read, interspersed with singing and lyric music. The

greater part of the poets and musical performers compete for prizes on
given subjects, which are announced beforehand on large placards
throughout the Principality. The subjects