WELSH BARDS IN SESSION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7824, 18 December 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

WELSH BARDS IN SESSION.

A NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD FOR THE YEAR OP THE QUEEN'S JUBILEE. London, November 12. Thk National Eisteddfod of Wales for the year of the Queen's jubilee is to be held in London. No such gathering can lawfully take place unless it has been previously proclaimed in a gorsedd of bards of the Isle of Britain, convened in the place where the Eisteddfod Iβ to be held. This preliminary ceremony of proclamation was this afternoon performed in the gardens of the Inner Temple. There, upon the j-reen sward, a circle thirty yards in diameter was marked oat by twelve unhewn stonee. Upon one of them the Arch Draid, David Griffiths, a venerable Welshman, eighty-six yearo of age, known among his compatriots by hie birdie name, " Clwyafardd," took bis stand; a bard wae also placed at each of the twelve stones to guard the sacred circjp, the others remaining within the circle ™o take part in the ceremony. Aronnd the ring six hundred visitors, principally Welshmen resident in London, gathered to witness the proceedings, which were conducted iu the midst of a steady downpour of rain. OPENING OP THE GORSKDD. At three o'clock the Arch Druid entered the circle, accompanied by the harpist, John Robert*. They were attended by twentythree bardfl, of whom four bore the name of Davies, four the name of Williams, with several Joneses and Kobertses. All these were distinguished by green or blue rosettes. The harpist wore what is supposed to be the Drnidic oostume—a Cowing robe and a cap, with a green cloak and a red girdle. After the sounding of the trumpet-call, the Arch Druid ascended the Logan atone, holding out a sword upon which all the bards laid hand*. He thrice demanded, "A oes lieddweh?" ("Is it peace?") to which the Wftlah portion of the assembly replied, " Heddwch /".("It is peace!") A MODEL BARD. The harpist was, physically speaking, the beau-ideal of a bard. His eloquent face, with soft, mild, eloquent eyes of bluish grey, was set off with a flowing grey beard. But the rain came down faster, and he lost dignity in the eyes of the profane by having recourse to an umbrella, while his antique harp, an instrument of quaint form, was muffled, when not used, in an oilskin case. The Arch Druid presented a strange and touching picture as he stood, like King Lear, but with all his wits about him, bareheaded to the pelting, pitiless storm. Some kind Druid, In respectful pity, held an umbrella over the brave old man, but he never noticed the courtesy or seemed aware ot the shelter. It is trae that his white looks were abundant, waving freely over the aged brow, and covering every part of the head thus exposed. THE PROCLAMATION. Next, the Arch Druid descended from the stone, and gave place to Rev. Rowland William, who offered the ancient gorsedd prayer. The gorsedd was then declared open, and the Arch Druid read in Welsh a proclamation beginning thus :—" On the day of the full moon, in the month of the falling leaves, in the winter solstice of 1886 : Bβ it known when the age of Christ is 1887 a gorsedd and Eisteddfod will be held in the chief city of Lud, and all who seek privilege end license in the arts, poesy, and song shall have the right of access, and no weapon bhall be unsheathed against them." CLOSING CEREMONIES. After the proclamation of the Eisteddfod, a number of bards mounted the stone in succession, and recited their poetical compositions in eulogy of the history, language, and literature of their native land. Among them was the Rev. R. Parry, the eeoond oldest Welsh bard, who has attained the ago of eighty-two. He recited a poetic effusion, at the close of which the bards again gathered round the Arch Druid, and plaoed their hands upon the The question, "Is it peace?" havmg been repeated thrice, and thrice anewered in the affirmative, the gorsedd was declared to be at an end,