Welsh Journals

road where wonders never cease. Could it possibly be the Man in -? Were there not well-known people- people with titles, like Sir Oliver Lodge and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who preached a thing as strange as this ? I stole a quick glance at the sky. H'm Yes, he was still there in his haunt. So that was the end of the Man in Ah! But was it really disproof? We had rounded a bend. A minute or two had elapsed, and, on the Road to Plas yn Bonwm, there is neither time, nor space, not any limitation. THE question of Eisteddfod Reform continues markedly evident in the air. It must not be allowed to remain there. The tone of the Welsh Press, and the temper of Welsh Bardism, or at least of the new genera- tion thereof, indicate that it will not be allowed to remain there. It must come down to the debating ground of practical Eisteddfodic politics. The annual joint meeting of the National Eisteddfod Association, and the Gorsedd Association at Corwen in August last, practically com- pelled this. In the Bardic State, any measure affecting the constitution of the Gorsedd, or its procedure, or its relationship to other Eisteddfodic authorities in a word, any measure of Eisteddfod reform has, like a Bill in Par- liament, to be given three "Readings," the difference between the Imperial and the Bardic Parliaments being that while, in the former the three Readings take place in a single session (in case of urgency in a single sitting), in the latter a period of twelve months must elapse between the First and Second, and between the Second and Third Readings. As I read it, the First Reading was unanimously agreed to at Corwen; the Second Reading will be a full dress debate on general principles at Barry; if approved of there, the Bill will be "sent upstairs to a Grand Committee, and the final stage, the Third Reading, will take place at the Carnarvon National Eisteddfod in 1921. At Corwen the Bill was simply formally presented in dummy form, after a general and somewhat nebulous discussijn. But by the resolution then adopted, notice of any suggested amendments to the existing constitution, procedure, or powers, of either or both the supreme authorities-the two Associations "-require to be sent in writing, duly signed, to Sir Vincent Evans, Secretary, National Eisteddfod Association, 64, Chancery Lane, London. or alternatively to Eifionydd, Recorder of the Gorsedd, Carnarvon-on or before December 31st, 1919. Any member of either of the two organisations has the right to submit suggestions. All such suggestions received will then be considered by the Officials-Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer of the Association, and Archdruid, Re- corder, and Treasurer of the Gorsedd. This revising We live in a sceptical age. I have told all this to other men-staid, sensible fellows, who lead orderly lives and pay their rates and taxes without waiting till the ink is peremptorily red. They have scoffed at me quite frankly. Talking of summer madness, they have broken-or almost broken-my belief. I suppose they are quite right. That's a good night to you! Nevertheless, out of my poverty I would scrape up a couple of guineas for a glance at a "Dictionary of the Idioms of the Moon." (To be continued). EISTEDDFOD REFORM By Beriah Gwynfe Evans. body will collate, collect, and co-ordinate the sugges- tions-or such of them as they deem suitable-in the form of-again to use Parliamentary terms, Reform Bill, which has to be printed and circulated to all members of each of the two Associations, sufficiently in advance of the Barry National Eisteddfod to permit of its being duly considered by the members before they are summoned to the Second Reading at Barry in 1920. That, concisely summarised, is the situation as it actually stands to day. It will be seen it gives free play for the reforming genius within the existing organisations. And after all reform must come from within. Every member of the Gorsedd, every member of the National Eisteddfod Association, is given a voice in the matter. The bill, as first read, contemplates the continuance of the National Eisteddfod Association and of the Gorsedd of Bards- but not necessarily under their existing constitution, nor with their existing limitations. My old friend and re- forming colleague Mr. W. E. Davies, whose valuable contribution to this discussion will be cordially welcomed and highly appreciated, recognises this (vide the October Welsh Outlook). He does well to remind us that the present unrest in the Eisteddfodic State is cyclic. No man is better entitled than he to speak of the has been in the sphere of Eisteddfodic politics. It is true that his services to the Eisteddfod, like those of e.g., Sir Vincent Evans, are not adequately appreciated to-day. It is so much easier to destroy than to construct, to pull down than to build, to criticise than to create or even to do solid work. We have to-day a school of critics who are content to demolish rather than to build who stand ostentatiously outside the circle of Eisteddfodic workers, and find amusement in throwing brick-bats at those to whose unremitting service and self-sacrificing efforts Wales has to-day to thank for the very existence of the National Eisteddfod. No honest reformer will have act or part with these revolutionaries, these self-organised Red Guards of the Eisteddfodic State. Mr. W. E. Davies confirms the view already expressed (vide the August Welsh Outlook) that the great movement for reforms from within initiated a whole generation ago produced a peaceful, desirable, and beneficent revolution