CAMBRIAN NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17382, 10 November 1924, Page 6

CAMBRIAN NOTES.

ARCHITECTURE IN WALKS. We might say there is no architecture in Wales. There are beautiful castles, noble mansions and line old mediaeval churches, hut the public buildings, the houses of the middle class and of the workers are hideous, especially in the great industrial areas. T hey absolutelv disfigure the landscape. Clod certainly favoured Wales and gave lavishly of beauty, fruitfulness anl rare riches, and in return the people have been almost brutal in their disregard of beauty. To travel in Wales is a delight. The scenery is unique. In the summer, the days arc almost tropical in the fulness of their glory ; the sun seems reluctant to depart, and one feels inclined to remain out of doors to capture the beauty of the night, and to revel in the pageantry of the heavens. On all sides are alluring pictures of sea and mountains. We know we are in \\ ales, even if the music of the place-names denoting the inward and outward characteristics of the villages did not tell us so. There is infinite variety—the peacefulness and quiet beauty of stretches of water, the richness of vegetation encircling the hills, with the varying light for ever playing upon them ; now bringing out their outlines and colouring boldly, row wreathing them in soft shadows, or dissolving them in melting mists. Think of it all! Or imagine the simple charm and rusticity of the little villages, framed by the mountains, the little rilling streams, the mossy smell of the woods, the mystery of ruins, saturated with the stories of historical romance, the ancient stones, the magic colouring and the. crystal purity of the air. How remote they all seem from the harassing excitement and the whirl of cities! And yet all this grandeur and beauty 's marred by the hand of man and the ugliness of his modern buildings. Music and literature have readied a high standard, but other arts have bee a sadly neglected in the land of song. Considering the wonderful beauty of the country, there are but few great. Welsh painters, and, although in the arts and crafts sections at the recent Pontvpool Eisteddfod, there were many prizes offered in all branches, there were but few entries and very few awards. Art is the creation of beauty, whether through the spoken or written word, through, music, painting, sculpture, building and the handicrafts generally. Tn certain arts, the Welsh excel—in music, song and oratory, for instance, and we may even say we understand the art of living better than other people, because we use our emotions and our imagination and are less material. Some nations are more concerned with the delights of the eye and of their stomachs, and the body generally, and their material prosperity. It may be that in their very lack of materialisms we may find the • clue to the poverty of the Celtic, racs in j the visual arts generally and in architecture in particular, for the buildings in Scotland and in Ireland are no better than those in Wales. They a.re primitive and unpicturesque. It has been said that a country gets the architecture it deserves. It may he so. The Greeks were an artist)* race of yore.

ns the remains of their sculpture and buildings testify. Fine buildings Bill never be produced unless the people are sufficiently educated to appreciate and cherish them. Technical proficiency is not enough, skill in construction and good craftsmanship is wasted unless the design he good, and it is to he hoped that Wales will progress in this branch of art as she i> progressing in others and that she will be hacked up by an instructed public; opinion. C A AIB RIA X SOCIETV FIXTU R ES. At the committee meeting held last Wednesday, preliminary arrangements nere made for the social to he held on November To in the Cafe Cecil. The programme will he on the same lines as the last social held there, and will be provided by the ladies of the committee. so it is sure to he a popular function. Air Parry will, make an important announcement regarding the choir. NOTES ABOUT THE PONTYPOOL EISTEDDFOD. The word Eisteddfod means “ the place of sitting” and suggests ease, quiet and leisure to appreciate and enjoy. The picturesque garb worn by the hards and the members of the gorsedd is symbolical. The blue mantle worn by the poets indicates heavenly endowment.?: ovates, or novices, wear .green robes and “ mortar boards,” green being the natural colour ol growth and development- The Prince of AY ales wore green when he was initiated. The Druids wear white robes and cowls over their heads—the outward mark of purity and knowledge. The Arch Druid, a special robe of white, a crown of oak-loaves and a cowl of golden wreath across his breast. The Eisteddfod stands for nil that is best in AVelsh national life. It has three great objects—the prevention of materialism, which saps the life of the nation and of the individual : the encouragement of art. music and poetry, and to find takh.it in AYalcs and to foster it. The Bishop of St David’s was a prominent figure at the Eisteddfod and so was the Bishop of Mon* mouth. who presided at the concert when the “ Messiah ” was rendered, and delivered a speech in the purest Welsh on the influence of the “ Messiah,” Handel's greatest work, in the course of which he said Handel’s influence was as much needed to-day as it was when he composed his great orat-oria. At the Eisteddfod service, the two Bishops were present. The Bishop of St David’s preached the One of the first printing presses used in Wales was one at Pontypool in the year 1740. ft wss run by a Mr Mason, who printed six AVelsh books.