A WELSH GREETING.

Otago Witness, Issue 3995, 7 October 1930, Page 63

A WELSH GREETING.

WELCOME TO HIS EXCELLENCY.

CORDIAL ADDRESSES EXCHANGED.

WELLINGTON, October 5. “ We have met to extend a hearty and loyal welcome to you both, and by song and story, and with just a little bit jf language thrown in, to take your minds back to people you know and love. With this welcome come our very best wishes that you both may have a long and happy sojourn in New Zealand, free from care and with God’s richest blessing.” These sentiments were expressed by the Mayor (Mr G. A. Troup) when extending to their Excellencies, Lord and Lady Bledisloe, on Saturday evening a cordial welcome to New Zealand on behalf of the Welsh people of •Wellington, Wairarapa, Manawatu, Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, and the King Country. It was stated to be one of the largest gatherings of Welsh people ever held in New Zealand, and the most representative one. The Town Hall concert chamber was filled to capacity.

Making the first speech of the evening, the Mayor said that neither by birth nor descent was he a Welshman. He regretted that he could not give the - ’>ole of his remarks in their native tongue; he found it so expressive that he dared not give it utterance.— (Laughter.) "A very strong bond is the fact that her Excellency is a Welsh lady,” he said. “ I believe that she, was born in Wales, and this gathering therefore takes on very great significance from that fact.” At this point Mr Troup caused a great deal of merriment by his recital of a sentence in Welsh which he explained meant (for those who did not know) —“Her own people meet her, greet her, and own her to-night.” He would say to her Excellency that there was “na folk like ber ain folk.”

Mr G. N. Evans, immediate past president, also welcomed their Excellencies, and gave an assurance of the loyalty of the Welsh people not only to their Excellencies but to the King. They were proud of their Prince as one who had not only endeared himself to the Empire, but to the whole world.

The president of the Wellington Welsh Society, Mr J. Morgan Davies, said that the occasion was unique in the history of the society. It was the largest gathering of Welsh people that had ever been held in the Dominion. He then referred to the gift of a bardic chair made of New Zealand wood, to be presented to the Royal National Eisteddfod. He hoped that this gift would make their compatriots at Home realise that New Zealand was a very important unit in the British Empire.

His Excellency said that they would like to express their appreciation of the eloquent welcome coming from such a gathering of Welsh people as had probably never assembled in Wellington or in the Dominion before. “ I have been asked by her Excellency to thank you for the form of your kind gift. I am voicing her opinion as well as my own that thece could be no more fitting gift than the bardic chair which she is going to be asked to convey to her compatriots in the principality of Wales. The gift will exhibit the skill of the Maori craftsmen, and I do hope you will do all yon can in the development of Maori craftsmanship and the preserving of that most glorious timber, kauri. Please do not let all your beautiful kauri trees be destroyed in the supposed interest of modern silviculture or modern farming.” In conclusion, his Excellency said he wanted to emphasise the fact that New Zealand owed much to Wales. It was high time, he said, that some person with great historical knowledge, with plenty of Celtic imagination, and with a flowing pen should write a history showing what New Zealand owed to the ancient Celtic race. A picturesque touch was added to the proceedings when little Miss Bronmen Jones, attired in traditional Welsh costume, came on the stage and presented her Excellency with a bouquet of flowers.