trel was infirm and old;
His withered cheeks and tresses gray
Seemed to have known a better day;
The harp, his sole remaining joy,
Was carried by an orphan boy.

* * * * *

No more on prancing palfry borne,
He carolled light as lark at morn;
No longer courted and caress'd,
High placed in hall, a welcome guest,
He poured to lord and lady gay
The unpremeditated lay."

Nor will the modern visitor to the castles and halls of the Principality,
not to mention its principal hotels, often miss the dulcet strains of the
national lyre.

The song and minstrelsy of Wales have from the earliest period of its
history been nurtured by its eisteddfodau. It is ascertained that the
Prince Bleddyn ap Kynfyn held an eisteddfod in A.D. 1070, which was
attended by the bards and chief literati of the time. This eisteddfod
made rules for the better government of the bardic order. This annual
assemblage of princes, bards and literati has been regularly held through
the intervening centuries to the present time. Within living memory
royalty has graced this national gathering of the ancient British race.

The ceremonies attendant upon this national institution are well known.
The president or chief, followed by the various grades of the bardic
order, walk in procession (_gorymdaith_) to the place appointed, where
twelve stones are laid in a circle, with one in the centre, to form a
_gorsedd_ or throne. When the whole order is assembled, the chief of
bards ascends the _gorsedd_, and from his laurel and flower-bedecked
chair opens the session, by repeating aloud the mottoes of the order,
viz.: "_Y gwir yn erbyn y byd_, _yn ngwyneb haul a llygad goleuni_," or
"The truth against the world, in the face of the sun and the eye of
light," meaning that the proceedings, judgments and awards of the order
are guided by unswerving truth, and conducted in an open forum beneath
the eyes of the public. Then follow verses laudatory of the president.
Poetical compositions, some of a very high order, are then rehearsed or
read, interspersed with singing and lyric music. The greater part of the
poets and musical performers compete for prizes on given subjects, which
are announced beforehand on large placards throughout the Principality.
The subjects for competition are for the most part patriotic, but
religion and loyalty are supreme throughout the eisteddfod. The
successful competitors are crowned or decorated by th