On the eve of the anniversary of Passchendaele, there was a fascinating piece on this morning's Sunday Supplement about the Eisteddfod in Birkenhead which followed. Hedd Wyn, the winning bard, having died in the battle, the chair which would have been awarded to him was empty and draped in black. It seems that the pressure to hold the Eisteddfod at all, and on Merseyside (then having more Welsh-speakers than Cardiff!) in particular came from prime minister David Lloyd George, who used it to support the war effort.
The tragedy of Hedd Wyn is told in a moving film.
No comments:
Post a Comment