The Poetry of Wales | Page 2

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 for competition are for the most part patriotic, but religion and loyalty are supreme throughout the eisteddfod. The successful competitors are crowned or decorated by the fair hands of lady patronesses, who