The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1875-10-01

4
ed the memory of numberless trans-
actions, which otherwise would
have persisted in oblivion. They /
were thoroughly acquainted with
The works of the primary bards-l
rvs, and Taliesin Ben Beirdd. The
talent which probably endeared
them more than all the rest to Welsh
was that of being most ac-
psychologists, and fat
tering their vanity in singing the
deeds of an ancient ancestry deriy-
ed from the most distant times. The |
Bardd Teulu, or court bard, held the
eighth place III the princes court.
He possessed his land free. The
prince supplied him with horse |
and wooden robe, and the princess
with linen. When a song was cali
ed for, the Cadeirfarcd. or the bard
who has got the 'badge of the chir,"
was the first TO sing hymn in glory
of God. After that another in honor
of the prince.
A commission for holding an
EistedfOd at Caerwys, in 1868, is, it
is believed, still in existence, tOgeth-
er with the silver harp. The COM
mission was the last of the kind
which was granted. There were
three in the poetical and five in the
musical faculty. A candidate or
prObationer was q DySc6L IopOs. or
the lowest disciple, W no was obliged,
if q candidate for poetry, to under
stand the construction OF five spe-
cies of engkyniOA, and to compose
them before q PenceTCId, who was
10 declare upon his conscience that
he was endowed with a true poetic
al genius. The qualified Pencer-
ddsu W ere licensed tossing under GER
tain restrictions. They were pro-
hibited from utiering any scandal
Gus words in speech or whispers,
detraction, hooking, scOffing, in
We ting, or repeating lies after 9TH
ers, under pain of fine or imprison-
ment; nor were they to enter any
mans house without his consent.
Every Penbardd and Pencerdd was
allowed to take in disciples for a
certain space OF time, bnt not above
one at q time. A disciple was not
qualified to make another. Each
was to be with HIS teacher during
Lent, under pain of losing his de-
gree, and was obliged to show ev-
cry composition to his teacher be-
fore it was publicly sung. If the
bards wandered from house to
house, they were to be apprehended
as strOllers and vagabOnds, and to
be deprived of their pay, which was
forfeited to the use of the church.
II they got intoxicated they forfeit
ed their reward. Ii they violated
| the chastity OF wife or maid, they
were fined and imprisoned, and lost
their pay for seven years. The
Penbardd and Pencerdd, in their
circuits, frsQuented only the houses
| of the gentry, but If he degraded
| himself by visiting the cOmmOnalty,
he was only TO expect the fee of q
a common clerk, whose province il
WAS to visit the plebian houses.
| The following were the persons
who were above Ell to entertain the
vulgar ears A person laboring
under any infirmity, such as blind.
ness, lameness, &c. No public fes-
tiVity or wedding cOnld be daily
sOlemniZed without the presence OF
the bards and minstrels. A glOri.
Gus emulation arose amongst them.
In the year ll76 the lord Rhys,
Prince of South Wales, gave q great
feast at Christmas on account of the
finishing of his new castle, at Aber-
teifi. lie proclaimed notice of il
Throughout all Britain year and q
day before. He invited all the
bards of Wales, and provided chairs
for them, which were placed in his
hall, where they sat and sang t.
show their skill, after which he be.
slowed rewards and rich gifts to
the victors. The bards of North
Wales won the prizes, but the min
streIs of Rhys' household excelled
in their faculty. Another custom
in which the bards were concerned
was that after their nuptial feast 6
Pencerdd was constituted cut Glen
or a pillar of the chair, and seated
in chair, surrounded by the other
bards standing, who made him the
subject of their merry and ludic.
rOus compositions, to raise mirth il
the company. He was that day tC
make no reply, but on the next he
was to divert the hal at the expense
of the inferior bards, and was also
to compose poem upon subject
given him, suitable to his dignity.
The following, a description o
the poetical genius of the Welsl
people, by Michael Drayton, will
we are sure, be read with pride anC
plI asure
Some there were bards that in their sa
cred rage,
Recorded the descents and acts of every age
Some with their nimble joints that struck tn
In lingering some unskiiled, but used to sin,
10 others harps, of which you both nigh
find
Great plenty, and of both excelling in thei
| Kind.
That at the stethva oft obtained a victor
praise;
Had won the silver harp and won Apollo
bays,
Whose Verses they deduccd from those frs
sundry sorts of feet and sundry suits o
rhymes.
In Engiins some there were, that in thei
Some makers that again affect a loft Ter vein.
Rehearse their high conce.ts in cowyths, 9th
| ers some
In Owdells their express as matters hap t.
come.
So varying still their moods, observing yet il
Their quantities, their rests, their ccnsure
metrical;
Nor TO that sacred art they most themseIvs
Addicted from their birth to so much posey
That In the mountains those who scarce hav
Most skIlfully will make, as though from AT
they took.
1t is not at all to be wondered a
that tho Eistedfodau should be 81
appreciated or that such expense o.
trouble should be incurred by tn,
promoters of the PWllheli Eistedd
fOd to make it a success. Some ar,
of the opinion that too many Fist
eddfOdeu are being held, and tina
they are therefore not as well sup
ported as formerly. The Pwlihel
: EisteddfOd has hSd to q great ex
tent to depend upon local resources
but notwithstanding that fact th,
contributions have been very liber
81, and prizes valued at $500 hav,
been offered for competition in tn,
: different subjects. The proceeds o
the Ffsteddfod will be devoted Il
the augmentation of tue endow
ment fund of the University COlleg
of Wales
The Eistddvod was much NOR
than the "Olympics" of the Greeks
The Gorsedd, 0iteralIy, Throne
from which emanated the Eistedd
vod, was in existence at least
thousand years anterior to tn
Christian Era in the days of Prydail
an Aa1A NTowr T. aoosaoA t;roo