Cylchgronau Cymru

402 BYE-GONES. July 8, 1896, was divided between the Rev H, C. Williams, Corwen, and the Rev D. Lewis. — For the chief choral competition for a prize of 200 guineas Llanelly, Merthyr, Rhymney, Builth, DowlaiS; and Holyhead choirs entered. The test pieces were " Trip we gaily o'er the green" (Jenkins), "Where His loud voice in thunder spoke" (Handel's "Jephtha"), and " How sweet the moonlight sleeps " (Leslie.) The competition lasted four hours, and was listened to by about ten thousand persons. Mr F. H. Cowen, one of the four adjudicators, said their opinion was that it had been a magnificent contest—the finest since the London Eisteddfod in 1887. At the same time there could be no doubt as to the winning choir, and they had unanimously and without hesitation awarded the prize to the Builth Choir.—The announcement was received with cheering, amid which " Llew Buallt," the con¬ ductor, was invested by Mrs Herkomer. In the afternoon a meetingin support of the Prince Lewelyn Memorial was held when Lord Mostyn took the chair, and the Hon. Mrs Bulkeley- Owen read the following paper:—I consider it a great privilege to come to Carnarvonshire (the home of my forefathers) to join with you in doing honour to our great national hero, Llewelyn Tywysog. The name given to him upon our cir¬ culars, "Ein Llyw Olaf" (Our last ruler), is not quite historically correct. Llewelyn died a Martyr for his country in 1282, and for 200 years we were without a native sovereign. But in 1485 Wales, and the whole of England besides, was reconquered at the battle of Bosworth, by a Welshman, Henry, son of Edmund Tydyr. History tells us that im- n ediately after his accession to the throne Henry sued a commission to t^e Abbot of Valle Crucis, Dr Owen Pool, canon of Hereford, and John King, herald at arms, "to make inquisition con¬ cerning the pedigree of Owen Tydyr, his grand¬ father." The result of this enquiry proves beyond dispute King Henry's descent from our ancient kings, and we are proud to know that through him "Victoria, ein brenhines," has an unbroken lineage from Rhodric Fawr. But to return to Prince Llewelyn: after his death, and that of his brother, Prince David, the rightful heirs to the throne were the sons of the latter. Dark and ominous are the words in the Patent Rolls, which record the fate of these two boys—"1283. Carnar¬ von. Mandate to Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lin¬ coln, to deliver Llewellin, son of David, Bon of Griffith, to Richard de Boys, to be taken where the King has ordered; also, mandate to Reginald de Grey, justice of Chester, to deliver Owen, son oi the same David, to the said Richard." The daughters, however, of the royal house were still alive, and seven years after the death of their father their safe "custody" seems to have been a source of uneasiness to the Norman king. In "1289, Sep. 2" the Patent Rolls tell us that Edward issued a "Mandate to Thomas de Nor- manvill to go to the places where the daughters of Llewelin son of Griffith and of David his brother, who have taken the veil in the order of Sem- fringeham are dwelling, and to report upon their state and custody in the next Parliament." We do not know in which convents they were placed. The Order of the Gilbertines, founded by Gilbert de Semfringeham (in 1148 A.D.) was in the thir¬ teenth century a large and powerful Order, it pos¬ sessed houses in nine different counties, none of which were in Wales or in the Marches. It is certain, therefore, that our Princesses were sent far from their beautiful mountain home, amongst strangers who could not even speak their language. Did they ever attempt to escape, was the King afraid of a rising on their behalf? Three hundred years later the Celtic race gave to England her first reigning Queens, Mary and Elizabeth Tydyr, the latter of whom, at all events, vied with any man in her powers of administration! I think it is forgotten sometimes that the right of a woman to rule over Great Britain we owe to a Celtic source. But to come to our memorial. The National Eisteddfod can find no more fitting work than that of promoting it; Prince Llewelyn, fol¬ lowing in the footsteps of his great ancestor, Gruffydd ap Cynan, was a patron of the bards, obedient to the Laws of Hywel Dda (Book I., chap, xix.), which orders that of the twenty-four officers of the King's Palace the bard should be the eighth. "Wythfed yw y bardd teulu." The name of Bleddyn Vardd has comt down to us as the domestic bard of Prince Llewelyn. The odes and the elegies which he sung in his honour, to¬ gether with those of Gruffydd ap Yr Ynad Coch, are printed in the Myvyrian Archaeology. From that time to this our Prince has been commemor¬ ated in music and in verse, the gifts above all others with which God has endowed our race. We all of us possess, I hope, the ode written on behalf of our Memorial by Sir Lewis Morris, and published for us free of expense by Messrs Jarvis and Foster of Bangor. Our Prince lias not been forgotten, but now in this nineteenth century, which is a time of pro¬ gress, we must not rest satisfied with that. The sister arts of sculpture and of painting must be made to contribute to his honour likewise, we must never rest until we have raised a monument worthy of him. We must bring to this task what the Triads call "The three indispensables of genius, understanding, reflection, and persever¬ ance." "Tri anhepgor awen, deall, ystyriaeth, ac amynedd." Dr Creighton, bishop of Peter¬ borough, speaking the other day at the commemor¬ ation at Oxford, said, "Englishmen have always been more concerned in saying what they wanted to say, than in doing what they wanted to do." I am not concerned with the truth of this state¬ ment, as regards England, but let it be impossible to be said of us, Welshmen and Welshwomen can talk, but they cannot do !—Professor Lloyd of Bangor spoke in Welsh and the Rev G.Hartwell Jones and Morien in English. In the evening Dr Roland Rogers's prize cantata, " The Garden," was performed. On Wednesday Lord Denbigh presided, and there was again a large attendance. Eleven choirs competed in the male voice competition, and the first prize of forty guineas was divided between the Forth Male Voice Choir and the Moelwyn Male