small ones were held under the auepices of the Gwyned- digion Society, established in 1771, the most important being those at Corwen (1789), St Asaph -(1790), and
Caerwys (1798).At the close of the Napoleonic wars, however, there was a general revival of Welsh nationality, and mimerous Welsh literary societies were established throughout Wales, and in the principal English towns. A large Eisteddfod was held under distinguished patronage at Carmarthen in 1819, and from that time to the present they have been held, almost without intermission, annually, several of them being under royal patronage. The following is a list of the prin cipal Eisteddfodau since that date:—
1820, Wrexham; 1821, Carnarvon; 1822, Brecon; 1823, Car- marthen; 1824, Welshpool ; 1826, Brecon; 1828, Denbigh; 1832, Beaumaris ; 1834, Cardiff; 1835, Llanerchymedd ; 1836, Liverpool ; 1838, Mcrthyr ; 1839, Liverpool ; 1840, Abergavenny ; 1842 ; Swansea ; 1845, Abergavenny ; 1849, Aberffraw ; 1850, Ehuddlan ; 1851, Tremadoc ; 1853, Liverpool and Portmadoc ; 1854, Festiniog; 1855, Dinas Mawddvvy, Machraeth, and Morriston ; 1858, Llangollen (memorable for its archaic character, and the attempts then made to revive the ancient ceremonies and restore the ancient vestments of druids, bards, and ovates) ; 18^9, Mcrthyr ; 1860, Denbigh; 1861, Conway and Aberdare ; 1862, Carnarvon; 1863, Swansea and Rhyl ; 1864, Llandudno ; 1865, Aberystwith ; 1866, Chester ; 1867, Carmarthen; 1868, Kuthin; 1869, Llanerchy medd ; 1870, Rhyl; 1871, Towyn; 1872, Portmadoc ; 1873, Mold; 1874, Bangor; 1875, Pwllheli ; 1876, Wrexham; and 1877, Carnarvon.
Besides these, innumerable local Eisteddfodau have been been held during the last 50 years.
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, during which thousands of persons of all classes and from all parts of Wales and many English towns attend. Many of these being unacquainted with the Welsh language, a large portion of the public proceedings are conducted in English. A president and a conductor are appointed for each day. The proceedings commence with a Gorsedd meeting, opened with sound of trumpet and other ceremonies, at which candidates come forward and receive bardic degrees after satisfying 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 competitors for poetical, musical, and prose compositions, for the best choral and solo singing, and singing with the harp or " Pennillion singing "[1] 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, gene rally 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 adjudication 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 Celtic Literature, vol. v. pp. 318, 319, and for authorities, p. 327. (n. w.*)
covery of the possession of land, together with damages for the wrongful withholding thereof. In the old classification of actions, as real or personal, this was known as a mixed action, because its object was twofold, viz., to recover both the realty and personal damages. The form of the action as it prevailed in the English courts down to the Common Law Procedure Act, 1852, was a series of fictions, among the most remarkable to be found in the entire body of English law. The following outline is condensed from the work of Mr Sergeant Adams : A, the person claiming title to land, delivers to B, the person in possession, a declaration in ejectment, in which C and D, fictitious persons, are plaintiff and defendant. C states that A has devised the land to him for a term of years, and that he lias been ousted by D. A notice signed by D informs B of the proceedings, and advises him to apply to be made defendant in D s place, as he, D, having no title, does not intend to defend the suit. If B does not so apply, judg ment will be given against D, and possession of lands will be given to A. But if B does apply, the court allows him to defend the action only on condition that he admits the three fictitious averments the lease, the entry, and the ouster which, together with title, are the four things necessary to maintain an action of ejectment. This having been arranged, the action proceeds, B being made defendant instead of D. The names used for the fictitious parties were John Doe, plaintiff, and Richard Roe, defendant, who was called the casual ejector. The explanation of these mysterious fictions is this. The writ of ejectione firmce was invented about the beginning of the reign of Edward III. as a remedy to a lessee who for years had been ousted of his term. It was a writ of trespass, and carried damages, but in course of time the courts of common law added thereto " a species of remedy neither warranted by the original writ nor demanded by the declaration, viz., a judg ment to recover the term and a writ of possession there upon." The next step was to extend the remedy to cases of disputed title to freeholds. This was done indirectly by the claimant entering on the land and there making a lease for a term of years to another person ; for it was only a term that could be recovered by the action, and to create a term required actual possession in the grant er. The lessee remained on the land, and the next person who entered even by chance was accounted an ejector of the lessee, who then served upon him a writ of trespass and ejectment. The case then went to trial as on a common action of trespass ; and the claimant s title, being the real foundation of the lessee s right, was thus indirectly determined. These proceedings might take place without the knowledge of the person really in possession ; and to prevent the abuse of the action a rule was laid down that the plaintiff in ejectment must give notice to the party in possession, who might then come in and defend the action. When the action came into general use as a mode of trying the title to free holds, the actual entry, lease, and ouster which were necessary to found the action were attended with much inconvenience, and accordingly Lord Chief-Justice Rolle during the Protectorate substituted for them the fictitious averments already described. The action of ejectment is now only a curiosity of legal history. Its fictitious suitors were swept away by the Common Law Procedure Act of 1852. A form of writ was prescribed, in which the person in possession of the disputed premises by name and all persons entitled to defend the possession were informed that the plaintiff claimed to be entitled to possession, and required to appear in court to defend the possession of the property or such part of it as they should think fit. In the form of the writ and in some other respects ejectment
still differed from other actions. But now by the Judicature
- ↑ According to Jones s Bardic Remains, "To sing Pemiillion with a Welsh harp is not so easily accomplished as may be imagined. The singer is obliged to follow the harper, who may change the tune, or perform variations ad libitum, whilst the vocalist must keep time, and end precisely with the strain. The singer does not commence with the harper, but takes the strain up at the second, third, or fourth bar, as best suits the pennill he intends to sing. . . . Those are considered the best singers who can adapt stanzas of various metres to one melody, and who are acquainted with the twenty-four measures according to the bardic laws and rules of composition "
