EISTEDDFOD EDITION
L FOR LEARNER
Tá níos mó béime anois ar lucht foghlumtha na Breathnaise, agus an bhliain seo chaite bhí seastán ar leith dóibh seo ar pháirc and Eisteddfod. Bhí té spesialta ann dóibh i gcomhluadar baill de chúirt an Eisteddfod agus ag an gcruinniú seo léirigh Teddy Millward a thabhachtach is atá an lucht foghlumtha do thodhchaí na teangan:
"D'yma mudiad 'medde ef' sy wedi tyfu o blith y bobl a mae'n cau y bwlch rhwng y cymdeithas gymreig a'r cymdeithas ddi-gymreig."
Táthar anois ag cainnt faoi lá spesialta a chur ar leathaoibh don lucht foghlumtha, agus b'fhearr seo ná an socrú atá ann faoi láthair do dheoraithe Breathnacha.
PRINCE & PROTESTER
Teddy Millward sy wedi dysgu "dau ddisgywr hollol wahanol: un sydd un y carchar yn Walton ac un sydd dim yn gweld tu mewn carchar yn ei holl byd!"
FOLK HERO
Dafydd Iwan is certainly the best known and most popular singer in Wales. His earlier songs were simple genuflections to the Welsh gods, but then he got down to chronicling the language protest campaign, pilloried Prince Charles, and finally waded in on such socio-economic issues as the depopulation of rural Wales and the devastating effect of holiday homes on the fabric of the Welsh-speaking community.
For a while he was secretary of the Welsh Language Society and is now editor of Tafod y Ddraig, the Society's monthly magazine. He spent a short time in jail in connection with the Society's signpost campaign and he now devotes a lot of his time to running Cymdeithas Tai Gwynedd, a housing society which aims to protect the Welsh-speaking community against the inroads of English second-home buyers.
ROYAL OR NATIONAL
In previous years the Eisteddfod programme opened with a letter from Whitehall to the Eisteddfod court to say that "The Queen has approved that the title 'ROYAL' he granted on a permanent basis to the National Eisteddfod of Wales". Last year's programme omitted this letter, however, and one wonders whether this in any way reflects the conflict between the "royal" and "national" elements within the Eisteddfod court.
The Eisteddfod stage is normally graced by a representative of the Queen (right), who last year looked quite ill at ease under the public glare. His discomfort may well have been due to his missing most of the jokes (in Welsh) made from the stage, although he made quite a job of smiling at the summary translations.
WELSH RULE?
There is a rule in the eisteddfod that all official functions, and particularly those on stage in the pavilion, must be in Welsh. This rule was inadvertently broken last year when the Yorkshire judge of the brass band competition gave his adjudication from the stage in English.
There has been some pressure over the years to make the Eisteddfod bilingual, but this has wisely been resisted. While it would have the advantage of allowing more non-Welsh speakers to participate in events, it would undermine the very foundations of the restival itself. There was considerable controversy in Hwlffordd last year over the amount of English displayed on stands on the Eisteddfod field. The local industrial exhibition was obliged to replace a purely English sign with a Welsh one. In view of Hwlffordd's location in anglicised Pembrokeshire this problem may have been partly due to a lack of communication between the Eisteddfod authorities and the local committees. The Western Mail, which has a stand at the Eisteddfod every year, has no such excuse, and the poster (below) on the field last year merited the attention of one Welsh language enthusiast.
Yr athro Idris Foster, cadeirydd cyngor yr Eisteddfod, yn cefnogu mudiad y disgwyr.
Y GWENITH GWYN
The official Eisteddfod handbook tells us that: "The Aberthged, or Sheaf of Corn entwined with wild flowers, is proffered by a Maiden attended by a group of little girls who dance a Floral Dance symbolising the desire of the Children of Wales to present the flower of their talent to the National Festival."
The Gorsedd, or circle of bards, has been trying for some years to live down its image as a pseudo-religious ceremony. Last year's effort in this direction was to remove the fertility-symbolising wheat from the flowers (below).
TEYRNGED
Sir David Hughes Parry, Q.C., LL.D., D.C.L.
"Purwyd dy ymadrodd yn ddir-fawr: am hynny y mae dy was yn eif hoffi."
Salm 119, v.140
Sir David was president of the Eisteddfod court, and in 1963-65 was chairman of the Committee on the Legal Status of the Welsh Language which made the following recommendations, many of which are still live issues eight years later:
"3. The Principle of Equal Validity should be adopted as the basic principle governing the future use of Welsh in the administration of justice and the conduct of public administration.
"12. It is desirable that there should be bilingual magistrates in all parts of Wales so that a case, in appropriate instances, could be heard entirely in Welsh.
"17. Welsh-speaking boys and girls from Wales sent for borstal training should be sent to institutions where there are Welsh-speaking officers.
"21. Heads of Government departments in Wales should be Welsh-speaking.
"22. The need for Welsh speakers in the Civil Service should be more widely publicised and a knowledge of Welsh should be recognised as an added qualification in the service. Where proficiency in the language is essential for the efficient discharge of duties in the office an extra allowance should be paid.
Eagarthóir an leathanaigh seo:
Pól Ó Duibhir
NA GAEIL I GCEIN
Liam Mac Mathúna, ionadaí an Oireachtais, ag cur beannachtaí muintir na hÉireann in iúl do mhuintir na Breataine Bige ó ardán an Eisteddfod i Hwlffordd 1972.
Le cúpla bliain anuas bhí seastán ag an Oireachtas ar pháirc an Eisteddfod agus ba suntasach an suim a léirigh na Breathnaigh i gcúrsaí na hÉireann dá bharr. Cé gur beag díobh a tháinig ar an Oireachtas féin, bhí an-díol ar chéirníní agus ar leabhair ghaelacha. Bíonn tuarascáil uair a'chloig ar an Oireachtas i mbreathnais ar radio BBC chuile bhliain agus is cúis ionadh do chách a laghad Breathnach is a thagann treasna don bhféile náisiúnta seo.