Welsh Journals

9. NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD MANUSCRIPTS. Of the vast amount of literary material in manuscript which the large-scale national eisteddfodau of the last half-century have necessarily produced a considerable proportion is now preserved in the National Library, wherein it has been placed on permanent deposit by the governing body of the Eisteddfod-formerly the National Eisteddfod Association, through its secretary, the late Sir E. Vincent Evans, and subsequently the Council of the National Eisteddfod, through one of its joint secretaries, Mr. D. R. Hughes, Old Colwyn. Four groups of this material have so far been deposited, the first of which was received in 1922, the second in 1933, the third in 1936, and the fourth in 1940. The collection covers a period of fifty years, beginning with the London eisteddfod of 1887 and ending with the Machynlleth eisteddfod of 1937. Of the eisteddfodau held annually almost without a break during that period all are represented with the exception of eight-those of 1888, 1889, 1896, 1898, 1900, 1906, 1912, and 1934. The manuscripts consist mainly of compositions-in many but not in all cases the winning compositions-submitted for competition, the adjudications upon them, other adjudications unaccompanied by any of the entries to which they relate, and copies of addresses delivered at the eisteddfodau from time to time. The compositions include poetry-among which are numerous chair and crown poems,-historical and critical essays, novels, short stories, dramas, translations, bibliographies, textbooks and handbooks, and vocal and instrumental music. A glance through the typewritten schedules describing the contents of the four groups, which are available for consultation in the Library, gives some indication of the amount of time and labour which are devoted every year to original composition and to research work in connection with the literary side of the activities of the National Eisteddfod. In addition to this large accumulation of literary material there have also been de- posited from time to time smaller supplementary groups which, as far as they go, illus- trate the history of the National Eisteddfod on its administrative side. These groups have been transferred to the Library by the local executive committees of a few of the eistedd- fodau-Carmarthen (191 1), Aberystwyth (1916), Wrexham (1933), Fishguard (1936), Mach- ynlleth (1937), and Denbigh (1939)-and consist of the minute books of their various com- mittees and sub-committees, letter books and correspondence, account books, and other records of a similar nature. To any future historian of the National Eisteddfod this material will be as valuable as, if not more valuable even than, the competitive material described above, since it relates to the behind-the-scenes side of the Eisteddfod's activities which is not accessible to the great majority of its patrons and devotees. It is to be re- gretted, therefore, that so few local committees have so far taken steps to ensure the per- manent preservation of the administrative records of the eisteddfodau with which they were directly concerned, and for the success of which they laboured so energetically and so enthusiastically at the time.1 GlLDAS TIBBOTT. 1 It should be added that records of the eisteddfodau held at Neath in 1918 and at Liverpool in 1929 are also preserved in the Library. These, however, are not on deposit, but were acquired outright from other sources. Another useful accession is a summary, compiled by the late Isaac Davies, Birkenhead, of the receipts and expenditure con- nected with the eisteddfodau from 1880 to 1932 and of the duties of the various com- mittees and sub-committees in preparation for the national event (N.L.W. MS. 10578).