CARNARVON CASTLE AND ITS PAST.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1180, 15 July 1911, Page 5

CARNARVON CASTLE AND ITS PAST.

PREVIOUS INVESTITURES. Both Jiiug iiaward.and King Ueorge nave uy wuuiy ana tacuui personal acis t'ApiTiseu more tnan once ineir reuprocauon oi tne aUecuonaio gouuwnl oi tneir Weisn subjects, aihi di an tnese acts, says a recent Jingnsn writer, tms latest concession to U eisn national leeiing is Vrmips tne most picturesque ami engaging. it revives an old, uiscarucd ceremonial. It sets up a preceuent wnicli Waies wilt not reamly aiiow to bo ignored. It recalls a nost ol historical and national associations. It wilt set an Wales tliroUDiug with a new sense oi patriotism. j.t will give tho Welsn nation a new interest in lis young I'mice anu a new ground lor anaeiiuieut and ioyaity 10 tne aung, wno was aiso once its rrince anil pjayeu a Prince'a part towards ti. ior sucn a ccreniony tne nouio castle at Carnarvon proviuos an lueal setting.. It is one ot tno stateliest lortrcsses in tho land, i'ounuea by tne first Emvnrd in tno thirteenth century to overawe and hold in check tho reoellious tribes ot Wales, it is now by a, happy chango ot circumstances to bo the scene of a ceremony testifying afresh that justice and friendsnip are more potent' ealeguards ol political content and loyalty tnan arms and torts and other implements of suppression. Thcro is a picturesque tradition tliat in tho great fortress on tho bank of the Seiont tho first Prince of Wales was born, and that here, an infant, ho was ottered to the Welsh peoplo in a propitiatory sense as a I'rince who could speak no English. The" tradition is no longer credited, but it seems clear that it was within sight of the Castlo walls that the birth of Edward II took'place, and thither, as by a natural instinct, tho people of Wales turned at tho first suggestion that once again a Prince of Wales should bo ceremonially invested in his <iwn land. It is a striking and a happy reversal of the purposes for which Carnarvon Castlo was built. Tho great fortresses of Wales are no longer needed to keep a hostile and suppressed race within tho bounds of law. They are now the breeding-grounds of a new sense of loyalty and unity, historical object-lessons in the political fusion of two races, still distinct in many points of race and temperament, but one in allegiance to tho Throne and in the desire to contribute to the national good. Tho idea in tho mind of Edward I when lie created tho first Prince of AVales lias thus in course of time come to full fruition. Tho first formal investiture was no doubt designed to steady tho mind of the first I'rince and to show some friendly resard for tho sentiment of tho Welsh Princes. And if that was the purpose, among others, of the ancicnt Statute of lilnidiilan, it uiav well stand in snirit as i ho purpose of King George's uecijion now. One cannot at the moment hoic

many years have passed since the last installation of ;v Princc of Wales. But they were great ceremonials. Later installations, that of l'rince ]lenry, on June (, 1010, was recently singled out l>y a writer in the "Manchester Guardian" as the most notable. It was an occasion of "extraordinary pomp and solemnity," and Ben Jonson's "Masquo of Oheron" was specially written for and performed on that festal day.