He married a sister of grim King Penda, and their son was the peaceful Cadwaladr, in whose reign much of the land of the Britons was again lost to them. Never again did Welsh Prince claim to be King of All Britain, even in name. CHAPTER VI AN EISTEDDFOD No one who knows and loves Wales will have failed to be present at some time or another at that most interesting and curious ceremony known as an Eisteddfod. The name simply means a “sitting,” and probably refers, not to the spectators, but to the “chairing” of the bard, which forms a chief part in the proceedings. These gatherings, for the purpose of preserving the poetry and music of the country, are held all over the land; but each year a great national Eisteddfod is held at some convenient centre; and of this notice is published a year and a day beforehand. At the appointed time, before crowds of spectators, the trumpets are sounded, and the candidates are presented for the “degree” of bard. For this they have to pass tests of various kinds, poetical and literary, which are judged then and there. Then the “bards” present their addresses to the audience--a poem, a prose composition, a song, as the case may be. Musical competitions form a very marked feature of the contest. From far and near the country choirs flock in, and rival each other in choral and solo singing, until one is adjudged the prize. Other competitors play the harp or violin, and when the contest is decided, the great ceremony of “chairing the bard” begins. A “chair subject” having been previously set for competition, the winner is solemnly conducted to a chair of carved oak, a naked sword is held over his head, and he is greeted with the blare of trumpets as the bard. A concert, given by well-known singers, closes the proceedings, which have often lasted for two or three days. [Illustration: CARNARVON CASTLE. _Page 10._] This ceremony dates from very far-off times. It may, indeed, be found in some form in the time of that wonderful King Arthur of whom you have all heard. He, as you know, was King of Britain in the “days before history,” and at his Court it was the custom to set tests of valour to his knights. Once he set seven of them to find fair Olwen, daughter of Thornogre Thistlehair, chief of the Giants, and they were given a year and a day for their quest. Of the many wonderful adventures that befell them you may read in a delightful collection of Welsh stories called the “Mabinogion,” or “Book for Girls and Boys.” At another Yule-tide his nephew, Sir Gawayne, was put to a more severe test. A Green Knight of immense stature rode into the dining-hall of the King, and dared any knight present to give him, who was armed only with a holly-stick, a blow with an axe, on the condition that he should receive a blow in return a year and a day after the event.