EISTEDDFOD (is-teth'vod), (plural Eisteddfodau), the national bardic congress of Wales, which seeks to encourage bard ism and music and the general literature of the Welsh, to maintain the Welsh language and customs of the country, and to foster and cultivate a patriotic spirit amongst the people. This institution, so peculiar to Wales, is of very ancient origin, the Gorsedd or assembly, an essential part of the modern Eisteddfod, being as old at least as the time of Prydain the son of Aedd the Great, who lived many centuries before the Christian era. The term Eisteddfod, however, which means "a session" or "sitting," was probably not applied to bardic congresses before the 12th century.
The Eisteddfod in its present character appears to have orig inated in the time of Owain ap Maxen Wledig, who at the close of the 4th century was elected to the chief sovereignty of the Britons on the departure of the Romans. It was at this time, or soon afterwards, that the laws and usages of the Gorsedd were codified and remodelled, and its motto of "Y gwir yn erbyn y byd" (The truth against the world) given to it. "Chairs" (with which the Eisteddfod as a national institution is now inseparably connected) were also established, or rather, perhaps, resuscitated, about the same time. The chair was a kind of convention where disciples were trained, and bardic matters discussed preparatory to the great Gorsedd, each chair having a distinctive motto.
The first Eisteddfod of which any account seems to have de scended to us was one held on the banks of the Conway in the 6th century, under the auspices of Maelgwn Gwynedd, prince of North Wales. Maelgwn, on this occasion, in order to prove the superiority of vocal song over instrumental music, is recorded to have offered a reward to such bards and minstrels as should swim over the Conway.
Griffith ap Cynan, prince of North Wales, who had been born in Ireland, brought with him from that country many Irish musicians, who greatly improved the music of Wales. During his long reign of 56 years he offered great encouragement to bards, harpers and minstrels, and framed a code of laws for their better regulation. He held an Eisteddfod about the beginning of the 12th century at Caerwys in Flintshire, "to which there re paired all the musicians of Wales, and some also f rrm England and Scotland." For many years afterwards the Eisteddfod ap pears to have been held triennially, and to have enforced the rigid observance of the enactments of Griffith ap Cynan. The places at which it was generally held were Aberff raw, formerly the royal seat of the princes of North Wales; Dynevor, the royal castle of the princes of South Wales; and Mathrafal, the royal palace of the princes of Powys; and in later times Caerwys in Flintshire received that honourable distinction, it having been the princely residence of Llewelyn the Last.
On the annexation of Wales to England, Edward I. deemed it politic to sanction the bardic Eisteddfod by his famous statute of Rhuddlan, and the meetings continued to be held, in many cases by royal mandate, till towards the end of the 17th century, of ter which for a considerable period—some 130 years—they fell into abeyance. At the close of the Napoleonic wars, however, there was a general revival of Welsh national feeling bringing about their resumption and they have been held annually, almost with out intermission, ever since.
To constitute a provincial Eisteddfod it is necessary that it should be proclaimed by a graduated bard of a Gorsedd a year and a day before it takes place. A local one may be held without such a proclamation. A provincial Eisteddfod generally lasts three, sometimes four, days. A president and a conductor are appointed for each day. The proceedings commence with a Gorsedd meet ing opened with sound of trumpet and other ceremonies, at which candidates come forward and receive bardic degrees after satis fying the presiding bard as to their fitness. At the subsequent meetings the president gives a brief address; the bards follow with poetical addresses, adjudications are made, and prizes and medals with suitable devices are given to the successful com petitors for poetical, musical and prose compositions, for the best choral and solo singing, and singing with the harp or "Pennil lion singing" as it is called, for the best playing on the harp or stringed or wind instruments, as well as occasionally for the best specimens of handicraft and art. In the evening of each day a concert is given, generally attended by very large numbers. The great day of the Eisteddfod is the "chair" day—usually the third or last day—the grand event of the Eisteddfod being the adjudi cation on the chair subject, and the chairing and investiture of the fortunate winner. This is the highest object of a Welsh bard's ambition. The ceremony is an imposing one, and is performed with sound of trumpet. (See also the articles BARD; CELT: Celtic Literature; and WALES.) (R. W.; X.)