The weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Craig County, Okla.) 1905-1913, 1911-07-14
|NVESTURE Of PRINCE Of
WALES WILL OCCUR TO-DAY

Then the bishops of st. Asaph and
Bangor, assisted by two Welsh non.
conformist ministers conduct the beau
tiful service of conservation, and the
professions reform and march to the
Queens gate of the castle, where the
king, following the example of Edward
l., presents the Prince of Wales to the
people of the nation, or rather to the
many thousands of them assembled
outside. The prince, in order to show
the people that he intends to keep
their interests at heart, addresses a
few phrases in Cymric.
After this second presentation the
professions unite and make together a
complete circuit of the castle walls on
the outside, returning by the main
front entrance and passing to their
apartments to disrobe and prepare for
their journey later on to Holyhead.
Tie Eagles Tower of the castle,
whose part in today's ceremony is so
important is a prominent feature of
the old fortress. It's walls are of enor-
nous thickness and cut out of them
is the dimiy-lighted stone chamber
where Queen Eleanor is said to have
given birth to the first Prince of
Wales. The height of the tower is 124
feet above high water mark, and there
are 15S steps cut through the inside
of the wall and leading to the summit
The ceremony of the second presenta-
tion to the people takes place from this
height. The lower part of the tower
was evidently used only for military
purposes, but above there still remain
indications that several fine living
rooms formerly existed there. These
have been renovated and furnished ac-
cording to modern ideas of the recep-
tion of the royal party today.
At the opposite end of the castle
stands the Queens Gate, composed of
two great towers, said at one time to
have been part of the keep. Original
ly it gave access to the castle by
means of drawbridge, and it was very
strongly fortified Loopho1es, gal
leries for the men at arms, porcullises
and other medieval contrivances to
meet an attack are still visible every
where, and must have rendered the
gate cirtually impregnable. It was
here that the presentation of his son
by King Edward l. took place.
The history of Carnarvon castle is
practically that of the relationship be-
tween Wales and England. The mag
nificent fortress was begun by Edward
Longshanks about 1882 or 1888, but
it was many years before it was com
pleted. It's construction was part of
the scheme drawn up by Edward I. for
the conquest of North Wales This
comprised also other strong fortresses
at Conway, Beaumaris and Harlech
and smaller forts distributed over the
country in the shape of blockhouses
sufficiently strong to resist the at
tacks of the scattered bands of light
footed Welsh mountaineers
The curtain, or wall, of the castle is
fifteen feet in thickness of chiselled
stone, an dthfs is strengthened here
and there by bastion towers octagonal
and nonagonal in shape. The main
gate is the most ornamental part OF
the fortress, which is Norman in char
acter an dis partially surrounded by a
moat
The first event in its war record oc
Cured when the castle was still under
construction in 1893, when the Welsh
patriot Madoc in successful raid de
stroyed part of the works. Then In
1902, Owen Glendower another pat
riot, besieged the fortress without sue
cess, Sir John Chandos holding II
doughtily for his king. For couple
of hundred years afterwards nothing
of note happened at the castle, but
during the civil war it was the center
of some of the most severe fighting
for Carnarvon remained loyal to the
king. The fortress capitulated several
times first to the Roundheads, ther
to the Cavaliers, changing hands agar
and again as the fortunes of war fav
ored Parliamentarian or Royalists un
til it surrendered finally to Colone
Milton, the Parliamentary general, or
June II, 1916, since which date nc
fighting has taken place in its vicinity
In the meantime, despite many efforts
to maintain it in repair, the old castls
has fallen into a state of decay, and il
was only when King George decided
that the investiture Of his son as
Prince of Wales should be carried out
on the same spot whence the frs
Prince Of Wales was presented to the
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