Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

4 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

CELTIA AND PAN CELTICISM.

LITERARY AND OTHER NOTES.

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

LITERARY AND OTHER NOTES. ADVICE TO LONDONERS. One of the most notable features of this year's Eisteddfod has been the unprece- dented amount of attention devoted to its doings by the London newspapers, or, at least, by the best of them. As it takes a very long time to prove to the satis- faction of the Saxon that anything outside football and cricket fields, and the Houses of Parliament (with the notable exception of ferocious murders and consequent execu- tions) is worthy of anything better than con- tempt, Wales can congratulate itself on a brilliant success in this direction. Even the Englishman, unimaginative, dull, con- temptuous, as he is, at last admits that the Eisteddfod is at least interesting, and, possibly, productive of some amount of intellectual fruit. Not that the Englishman's appreciation really matters one scrap. We in Wales, and our brothers in Ireland are seldom moved to ecstasy by anything English only, we never forget that to win the Englishman's appreciation is one sure way of getting into his valuable pocket. We are quite frank. The last remark is very much to the point. The 1909 Eisteddfod will be held in London, and we must get into his pocket then. We must not think, however, that the Welsh Boarding-House Keeper's method is the best method for achieving that honest end. In one quiet corner of Welsh Wales I knew as a lad a dear little cottage called Penylan. Daring the last ten years English tourists have been crowding into that country neighbourhood, and the daughter of Penylan wrote to me from Ivy Cottage," informing me that they had been forced to change the name of the old house because the lazy gibing Saxons found the old name unpro- nounceable. None of that for 1909, please, Londoners We have given our solemn word of honour at Swansea that the Eistedd- fod, when held in London, should be entirely Welsh—and we must keep our promise. It must be Welsh through and through, and by making it an absolutely Welsh affair, we shall bully the Englishman into support- ing it. Let no one run away, however, with the mad idea that my desire is that no word of any language but Welsh shall be spoken at the Eisteddfod of 1909. Very far from it. Let me take a concrete instance so as to make my intention quite clear to those of my readers who have become anglicised and therefore limited in intelligence. We had the National Eisteddfod in London in the year of our Lord 1887. It was not a success -financially-and the blame was laid on the English theatres. Ministers, deacons, poets and litterateurs came up from the country, and for years they had denounced and ranted against the theatre. Once in London, their WORST nature got the BETTER of them, and original sin drove them in crowds to the theatres. That was all very sad, and has to be guarded against this time, and here is my suggestion, for protecting the weak from their evil desires. We must stage during the week openly and fearlessly, a Welsh play, or a repertoire of Celtic plays, and in so doing we shall also give the Celtic drama a much-needed impetus. Some one will answer, and very reasonably, But we have no Welsh play." To this objection, I have but one reply, but it is thunderous in its finality, The London Committee can find one, and ought to find one." Let them at once offer a prize of a hundred guineas for a Welsh play (in English) and appoint a committee of one leading actor or actress (Miss Edith Wynne Mattheson, for instance, with her Welsh associations), one leading play-wright (W. B. Yeats, the poet, or George Bernard Shaw, the only modern playwright in England, would do), one eminent Welsh litterateur (0. M. Edwards or Ernest Rhys, say), with Mr. Vincent Evans (as representative of the Eisteddfod Association) to adjudicate. If no play worth the trouble of staging be received by the adjudication committee, then let the adjudication committee write one. The Irish Theatre might also contribute a play or two, for the event; but be sure that it is done, and make capital out of the desire for dissipation of theologians and other old fogeys. One more point. A smart Welshman, who thinks he knows more than he actually does, will say that this is a sermon in Cap and bells." It is nothing of the kind. It is an earnest plea for originality. I should like to fee the majority of Welsh people raising their hands in "holy horror" on the appearance of the London programme. Let every old conservative denounce us and declaim against us with the greatest viol- ence from August 1908 until the day before the Eisteddfod in 1909, and we may be quite sure of meeting him at the Eisteddfod when it comes. It is humanity's little way, and if we want to make the London Eisteddfod of 1909 a tremendous thing," we must first of all frighten the people, then shock them, and lastly take their money. There are six great Welshmen in London (one of them is the writer of this column), but they are irresponsible, wild, cynical, revolutionary, irreligious and mad, like all great men. If they will have their say in the drafting of the 1909 Eisteddfod programme, it will be a great success. It is very likely though that they will be muzzled with the inevitable consequence that the Eisteddfod, yes, even in London, the capital of Celtic Bohemia, will turn out a stale, bourgeoise, common- place, semi-religious, semi-political, respect- able, miserable show. NORICK.

AETH GWEN YN OL I GYMRU.

A WELSH MINER= VIOLINIST.