5:25:03 > 5:25:10.
5:25:15 > 5:25:17I'm Cerys Matthews and this is one of Europe's
5:25:17 > 5:25:19largest cultural festivals.
5:25:19 > 5:25:21It's the National Eisteddfod of Wales.
5:25:21 > 5:25:24It's a week filled full of poetry and music
5:25:24 > 5:25:27and just about any other cultural activity you can think of.
5:25:30 > 5:25:31For thousands of people in Wales,
5:25:31 > 5:25:35the first week of August is the most important week of the year.
5:25:35 > 5:25:37From every corner of the country and beyond,
5:25:37 > 5:25:41people arrive at the Eisteddfod to enjoy a week unlike any other.
5:25:42 > 5:25:47I'm a singer, so I've competed here since I was under 12, every year.
5:25:47 > 5:25:50It's a tradition. We've been coming here for years.
5:25:50 > 5:25:53I just like meeting everyone, seeing all my friends.
5:25:53 > 5:25:55Going to see people singing.
5:25:55 > 5:25:58If you speak Welsh, if you are learning Welsh,
5:25:58 > 5:26:01if you don't speak Welsh at all, there is plenty of welcome for everybody here.
5:26:01 > 5:26:02But for some,
5:26:02 > 5:26:04there's a serious point to all this, too.
5:26:04 > 5:26:08In the big pink pavilion, and on other stages around the site,
5:26:08 > 5:26:11there's a whole week of competitions lined up.
5:26:11 > 5:26:17Dancers, singers, brass band members, everyone's put in hours and hours of practice,
5:26:17 > 5:26:20and there's no doubt that winning is the aim.
5:26:20 > 5:26:22- We came second last year. - But first the year before.
5:26:22 > 5:26:24We're looking to change that this year.
5:26:24 > 5:26:27I'm a bit excited and a bit nervous.
5:26:27 > 5:26:30Quite nervous because there's some difficult parts.
5:26:30 > 5:26:34If I mess them up, then they'll know it's me.
5:26:34 > 5:26:36There will be winners and losers,
5:26:36 > 5:26:42and a prestigious Chair and Crown to be won by the nation's best poets.
5:26:43 > 5:26:46For these competitors, the Eisteddfod is the culmination
5:26:46 > 5:26:50of a whole year's effort, it's like an Olympics of the arts.
5:26:53 > 5:26:55This year the festival is in the Vale of Glamorgan,
5:26:55 > 5:26:59just to the west of Cardiff. It's one of the wealthiest parts of Wales,
5:26:59 > 5:27:03with 14 miles of heritage coastline, rolling farmland,
5:27:03 > 5:27:08well-to-do market towns and, of course, Barry island.
5:27:12 > 5:27:15My first 24-hour experience of the National Eisteddfod
5:27:15 > 5:27:17was in a field like this.
5:27:17 > 5:27:20For many teenagers, this will be their home during the week.
5:27:20 > 5:27:23Bands play here at night, and the guitars come out.
5:27:23 > 5:27:27In fact, I count my first proper guitar-playing public appearance
5:27:27 > 5:27:30as being from my tent here in Maes B.
5:27:30 > 5:27:34# Initiate a tear
5:27:34 > 5:27:38# Go back home...# 'Catatonia was formed soon after.
5:27:38 > 5:27:42'This is one of those Eisteddfod performances from the early days of the band.'
5:27:42 > 5:27:45# ..I've got your photograph
5:27:45 > 5:27:50# A frozen reminder of what it just can't do. #
5:27:51 > 5:27:54It's hard to believe that was 20 years ago,
5:27:54 > 5:27:59but I was as interested then as I am now in the history of music and literature,
5:27:59 > 5:28:01and the Eisteddfod is steeped in both.
5:28:01 > 5:28:04So, let me introduce you to one of those traditions.
5:28:04 > 5:28:09It's called Cerdd Dant and it's a completely unique form of music.
5:28:09 > 5:28:16# Mae gwyll yng nghoed Sain Ffagan ers hir uwchben Llancarfan
5:28:16 > 5:28:26# Ond harddach fyth ar noson oer yw'r lloer uwch Aberddawan. #
5:28:26 > 5:28:30The Cerdd Dant competition is one of the big features of the Eisteddfod,
5:28:30 > 5:28:35and one of my oldest friends, Elinor Bennett, knows all about it.
5:28:35 > 5:28:37Elinor, we've known each other a long time,
5:28:37 > 5:28:40and I'm very happy to be here to ask you now, what is Cerdd Dant?
5:28:40 > 5:28:44Cerdd Dant is a uniquely Welsh form of singing.
5:28:44 > 5:28:50It involves a melody being played on the harp, uninterrupted,
5:28:50 > 5:28:54as a solo almost, and then the singer will sing verses
5:28:54 > 5:28:59which will fit into the original melody, and use a counter-melody,
5:28:59 > 5:29:04which must fit with this original melody of course and sound OK.
5:29:05 > 5:29:09So, Elinor plays the traditional melody, Ash Grove,
5:29:09 > 5:29:12and sings her own melody against it.
5:29:12 > 5:29:18# Nico annwyl, ei di drosta i a'r neges fach i Gymru lan
5:29:18 > 5:29:23# Hed nes dei di i wlad o fryniau sydd a mor yn cuddio'i thraed
5:29:23 > 5:29:29# Lle mae'r haf yn aros hiraf Lle mae'r awel iach mor ffri
5:29:29 > 5:29:36# Lle mae'r mor a'r nefoedd lasaf Gwlad y galon, dyma hi. #
5:29:38 > 5:29:40Diolch, Elinor.
5:29:40 > 5:29:44I love the words in that song saying the summers last longer here in Wales,
5:29:44 > 5:29:48and the sea is bluer and the sky is the bluest.
5:29:48 > 5:29:52That's poetry for you!
5:29:53 > 5:29:59In this Eisteddfod they're using the theme from Schindler's List for the Cerdd Dant competition.
5:29:59 > 5:30:04Wow! Well, that's a pretty sad and very beautiful tune, isn't it? Yes.
5:30:04 > 5:30:07- Stunning.- I look forward to that. - I think it's in D Minor.
5:30:07 > 5:30:09Do you want to hear a little?
5:30:09 > 5:30:11PLAYS THEME FROM SCHINDLER'S LIST
5:30:29 > 5:30:31It's something like that.
5:30:31 > 5:30:36- That's the mood of the music. So the words must be... Very sad music. - Very sad. Minor.
5:30:36 > 5:30:39And that's very much the character of the Welsh people.
5:30:39 > 5:30:42- They love the minor chords. - We love the minor chords.
5:30:42 > 5:30:46- Do you know, even the major songs sound minor in Welsh?- Yes.
5:30:48 > 5:30:51And here is one of the groups who wove their own melody
5:30:51 > 5:30:53against the Schindler's List theme.
5:31:00 > 5:31:07# Fe grach boerasom ninnau yn wyneb cariad
5:31:07 > 5:31:14# Pan faglau dan y pren ar stryd y dre
5:31:14 > 5:31:21# Ei bwnio yn ei gefn a dwrn a phastwn
5:31:21 > 5:31:28# A sgrechian gyda'r dorf, 'Croeshoelier ef'
5:31:28 > 5:31:33# Yr oeddem ninnau yno
5:31:33 > 5:31:41# Ond rydym rhywsut wedi hen anghofio. #
5:31:43 > 5:31:46Now, the Eisteddfod has many ancient traditions -
5:31:46 > 5:31:49the stone circle, the druids and their robes,
5:31:49 > 5:31:53but in fact they're not as ancient as you might think.
5:31:53 > 5:31:57They were all the brainchild of one man, called Iolo Morganwg.
5:31:58 > 5:32:00He was born here in the village of Flemingston,
5:32:00 > 5:32:04just a few miles from where the Eisteddfod is being held this year,
5:32:04 > 5:32:06and he was quite a character.
5:32:07 > 5:32:10In the church where Iolo Morganwg is said to be buried,
5:32:10 > 5:32:17I met up with historian John Davies to try to untangle fact from fiction.
5:32:17 > 5:32:22So John, the druids and the ceremonies are not as old as we think, are they?
5:32:22 > 5:32:23Well, they're over 200 years old,
5:32:23 > 5:32:26which as traditions go, is pretty old I would say.
5:32:26 > 5:32:29It was a case, I think, of the invention of tradition,
5:32:29 > 5:32:34and the man who invented it was Iolo Morganwg, Edward Williams,
5:32:34 > 5:32:37which turned out to be the Iolo Morganwg of Glamorgan.
5:32:37 > 5:32:38Which is where we are now.
5:32:38 > 5:32:41We are, in Flemingston, where he lived for most of his life.
5:32:41 > 5:32:44What did he bring to the Eisteddfod specifically?
5:32:44 > 5:32:48Well, he brought the idea of the Circle of the Bards,
5:32:48 > 5:32:51which he said went right back to the druids, pre-dated the Romans,
5:32:51 > 5:32:54pre-dated Christianity. He was a Unitarian.
5:32:54 > 5:32:58He latched it on to the Eisteddfod in the late 1820s.
5:32:58 > 5:33:02And, of course, the standing stones, the circle of the Gorsedd.
5:33:02 > 5:33:06He came from the Vale of Glamorgan,
5:33:06 > 5:33:09which he called the paradise of Britain by the way.
5:33:09 > 5:33:10Lots of stone circles in the area.
5:33:10 > 5:33:14Lots of stone circles and cromlechi and that sort of thing.
5:33:14 > 5:33:16He was inspired by the idea of stones standing up.
5:33:16 > 5:33:19Didn't he dream up all this imagery?
5:33:19 > 5:33:24He did dream up. He had a very powerful imagination, which may, some people suggest,
5:33:24 > 5:33:28have arisen from the fact that he was taking opium.
5:33:28 > 5:33:30Wasn't there a prescription found?
5:33:30 > 5:33:33There was a note from a chemist in Cowbridge saying,
5:33:33 > 5:33:39"Enclosed are 30 grains of pure opium, not all to be taken at once."
5:33:39 > 5:33:43I asked a doctor, "If you took 30 grains of pure opium, what would happen?"
5:33:43 > 5:33:46"You'll explode," he said.
5:33:46 > 5:33:49FANFARE
5:33:53 > 5:33:57For many, the highlights of the Eisteddfod are closely associated with Iolo's druids,
5:33:57 > 5:34:01and you can see them on stage to announce the major prizes.
5:34:01 > 5:34:05But the tradition of performing poetry at an Eisteddfod
5:34:05 > 5:34:07goes back a long way before that.
5:34:07 > 5:34:12- Gwaedd uwch adwaedd. A oes heddwch? ALL:- Heddwch!
5:34:12 > 5:34:15This prize ceremony is for the Chair, awarded for a poem
5:34:15 > 5:34:20written in a unique alliterative metre known as Cynghanedd.
5:34:20 > 5:34:23TWM MORUS PERFORMS CYNGHANEDD
5:34:23 > 5:34:28This is poet and musician Twm Morus, and he's proudly continuing
5:34:28 > 5:34:32the folk tradition where Cynhangedd has its roots.
5:34:32 > 5:34:38Even if you don't understand the words, there's an addictive rhythm and sound
5:34:38 > 5:34:41which is ancient and modern at the same time.
5:34:41 > 5:34:45This kind of rhythmic beating and reciting,
5:34:45 > 5:34:49that's like hip-hop or something, like an early form of rap.
5:34:49 > 5:34:54It is. It's the same principle, reciting words with a regular beat.
5:34:54 > 5:34:57Gwir aflonydd Gwair fel ynys
5:34:57 > 5:35:01Gwedy'r ymwrdd Gwaed ar Emrys
5:35:01 > 5:35:04- A braw dyrys. ALL:- A braw dyrys.
5:35:04 > 5:35:09- Define Cynhangedd for me. - What is life, Cerys?
5:35:09 > 5:35:14- Define Cynghanedd!- In a nut shell.
5:35:14 > 5:35:18It's a sound system, which is independent of any language.
5:35:18 > 5:35:24I can say, "Gabara cric hic a hwci" and it's correct Cynghanedd.
5:35:24 > 5:35:28But I don't know if anybody speaks that language anywhere.
5:35:28 > 5:35:31- Maybe on some distant planet. - Essentially it's inner rhyming.
5:35:31 > 5:35:35- It's inner rhyming and alliteration. - At the same time.
5:35:35 > 5:35:39At the same time, and various... Thousands of little things.
5:35:39 > 5:35:43- Different patterns of inner rhymes. - Yeah, a sound system.
5:35:43 > 5:35:50It's like Celtic patterns on crosses, those old crosses, interweaving patterns.
5:35:50 > 5:35:54Can you write poetry in different languages using the Cynhangedd rules?
5:35:54 > 5:35:58It can be done. My first love was a plover.
5:35:58 > 5:36:05Beautiful things her wings were. Tiny eyes shining at night.
5:36:05 > 5:36:12Though mainly in the moonlight. We ate cakes by a lakeside.
5:36:12 > 5:36:18I caressed her crest and cried all night. Then the kites called.
5:36:18 > 5:36:24Unshaven and dishevelled, he saw from the bristling sedge,
5:36:24 > 5:36:28my playmate's handsome plumage.
5:36:28 > 5:36:33She made a tryst. Kissed the kite, so dearly in the starlight.
5:36:33 > 5:36:40I thought of only one thing. My plover lover leaving.
5:36:40 > 5:36:43- So it can be done.- That's brilliant. Tremendous stuff.
5:36:46 > 5:36:50For Welsh poets, composing is a craft you work at,
5:36:50 > 5:36:56honing a line to perfection rather than hanging around waiting for inspiration.
5:36:56 > 5:37:00No-one knows that better than Gwyneth Lewis, the National Poet of Wales.
5:37:00 > 5:37:05It's her words that have been set in stone on the front of the Wales Millennium Centre.
5:37:05 > 5:37:08This week she won the ultimate accolade,
5:37:08 > 5:37:13the Eisteddfod Crown, for a poem with a theme of islands.
5:37:13 > 5:37:16And she's just adapted Shakespeare's The Tempest into Welsh.
5:37:16 > 5:37:20It's being performed here as part of the World Shakespeare Festival.
5:37:20 > 5:37:22So, what challenges did she face
5:37:22 > 5:37:26when translating Shakespeare into the Welsh language?
5:37:26 > 5:37:30Aside from the issue of Shakespeare, who could be daunting,
5:37:30 > 5:37:36the main thing is that the rhythms in poetry in English and Welsh are completely different.
5:37:36 > 5:37:41Shakespeare drops naturally into this five-beat line.
5:37:43 > 5:37:45To be or not to be, that is the question.
5:37:45 > 5:37:48Whether it is better, and so on.
5:37:48 > 5:37:52Whereas in Welsh, in poetry, we count syllables.
5:37:52 > 5:37:56Even if we were to count accents, the structure of the language
5:37:56 > 5:38:01puts the accent on a different part of the word, on the last but one syllable.
5:38:01 > 5:38:07In English you're going "tee-tum" and in Welsh you're going "tum-tee",
5:38:07 > 5:38:15so I had to be cunning about how to, kind of, cheat the Shakespearean sound.
5:38:15 > 5:38:18SHE SPEAKS IN WELSH
5:38:24 > 5:38:29Kai Owen is relishing the prospect of playing Shakespeare in Welsh.
5:38:29 > 5:38:31Gwyneth Lewis has done a marvellous job of still keeping
5:38:31 > 5:38:35the richness and rhythm of it, still keeping the heart of the story,
5:38:35 > 5:38:39and still keeping the beautiful language of Shakespeare alive.
5:38:39 > 5:38:44The poetry of the Welsh language fits superbly to the poetry of Shakespeare.
5:38:44 > 5:38:46It's a match made in heaven, in my opinion.
5:39:03 > 5:39:05Every night in the pink pavilion there are concerts
5:39:05 > 5:39:07and competitions going on.
5:39:07 > 5:39:10One of those concerts this year has a musical setting of a poem
5:39:10 > 5:39:13that's famous not here in Wales, but in Hungary.
5:39:13 > 5:39:17MUSIC: "The Bards Of Wales" by Janos Arany, composition by Karl Jenkins
5:39:17 > 5:39:21The poem, which is as well known as the national anthem in Hungary,
5:39:21 > 5:39:23is called The Bards of Wales.
5:39:27 > 5:39:32It's been set to music by acclaimed Welsh composer Karl Jenkins.
5:39:32 > 5:39:36It started when this Hungarian, called Lazlo Irinyi,
5:39:36 > 5:39:40approached me and told me about this poem, which I had not heard of.
5:39:40 > 5:39:42Everyone I have spoken to since, Welsh people,
5:39:42 > 5:39:43have also not heard of it.
5:39:43 > 5:39:45It's called the Bards of Wales.
5:39:45 > 5:39:49It's an analogy really, written by a Hungarian poet.
5:39:49 > 5:39:55It tells of the dominance of a large country over its smaller neighbour.
5:39:56 > 5:39:59For sensitive reasons he couldn't write the poem in Hungarian,
5:39:59 > 5:40:00so he set it in Wales.
5:40:00 > 5:40:03King Edward comes to North Wales and beheads the bards.
5:40:03 > 5:40:09MUSIC: "The Bards of Wales" by Janos Arany, composition by Karl Jenkins
5:40:42 > 5:40:45The work was commissioned by Lazlo Irinyi,
5:40:45 > 5:40:49and he told me about the significance of the poem to Hungarian people.
5:40:50 > 5:40:54For us, this is a story that speaks very high of the Welsh,
5:40:54 > 5:40:55about their courage.
5:40:55 > 5:40:59Something we Hungarians also needed
5:40:59 > 5:41:02- many times throughout our turbulent history.- With Russia?
5:41:02 > 5:41:08Well, with the Turks, with the Osman Empire, with the Austrians,
5:41:08 > 5:41:12with the Habsburgs and then with the Germans and then with the Soviets.
5:41:12 > 5:41:15And so throughout history, Hungary has gone through many times
5:41:15 > 5:41:20when this sort of courage that the poem talks about, was badly needed.
5:41:20 > 5:41:25The poem has been recited very often in times of need,
5:41:25 > 5:41:27in times of oppression.
5:41:27 > 5:41:34MUSIC AND CHORAL SINGING
5:41:43 > 5:41:47This work has already been performed in Hungarian and English,
5:41:47 > 5:41:49and this concert was its Welsh language premier.
5:42:28 > 5:42:32On the stage too this week we saw clocsio, clog dancing
5:42:32 > 5:42:37and Tudur Phillips has seen a big increase in its popularity.
5:42:37 > 5:42:39This has changed quite a fair bit.
5:42:39 > 5:42:41Basically now there are loads of groups around Wales,
5:42:41 > 5:42:44loads of young kids coming in and doing the tricks
5:42:44 > 5:42:48and steps that I was struggling to do, later on.
5:42:48 > 5:42:52So are you going to teach me a few basic steps?
5:42:52 > 5:42:55This is called pitter patter,
5:42:55 > 5:42:57because it is sounds like a pitter patter, pitter patter.
5:42:57 > 5:43:04So basically you put one front and then back. And then the left.
5:43:06 > 5:43:08And then sort of jog.
5:43:10 > 5:43:13- You've got it. - Is that it?- Spot-on.
5:43:13 > 5:43:15You'll be on the stage next year.
5:43:17 > 5:43:20- You've mentioned the tricks.- Yeah.
5:43:20 > 5:43:22The really famous one is the one with the broom
5:43:22 > 5:43:24and the lad jumps over the broom.
5:43:24 > 5:43:27That's the hardest one. But a bit easier is this, you can use this.
5:43:27 > 5:43:30- I called it a macyn. - It's a handkerchief.
5:43:30 > 5:43:33- I'm going to stand back now. - And I just jump over it.
5:43:33 > 5:43:35- OK, let's have a go.- OK.
5:43:39 > 5:43:41- Brilliant. - Do you want to try?- No, thank you.
5:43:41 > 5:43:46I did try it later but let's leave it to 15-year-old Trystan Gruffydd,
5:43:46 > 5:43:49and this is the winning performance in the Boys Solo Dance.
5:43:59 > 5:44:04CROWD CLAP ALONG
5:44:10 > 5:44:12APPLAUSE
5:44:17 > 5:44:23And hand-in-hand with clog dancing, an instrument which is also becoming popular, the triple harp.
5:44:23 > 5:44:29MELODIC HARP
5:44:33 > 5:44:35This is 13-year-old Math Roberts.
5:44:35 > 5:44:38I caught up with his dad, Dafydd, in the family caravan
5:44:38 > 5:44:42to find out more about this historic instrument.
5:44:42 > 5:44:46Tell me, Dafydd, what makes this different to the single row harp?
5:44:46 > 5:44:47It's the triple harp.
5:44:47 > 5:44:51It's called triple because it has three rows of strings.
5:44:51 > 5:44:53The two outside rows, you see here,
5:44:53 > 5:44:56they are like the white notes of the piano.
5:44:57 > 5:45:00They are like a reflection of each other.
5:45:00 > 5:45:03They are both outside, those two the same.
5:45:03 > 5:45:08And then the middle row, they are like your black notes on the piano, the chromatics.
5:45:08 > 5:45:11RUNS THROUGH SCALE
5:45:12 > 5:45:17- I noticed you're playing on the left shoulder, why is that? - I play on the left shoulder, yes.
5:45:17 > 5:45:20I'm not left-handed. That's the way I was taught.
5:45:20 > 5:45:24So you use the right hand, the strong hand for the big bass strings
5:45:24 > 5:45:26and the left hand for the melody,
5:45:26 > 5:45:29which is the hand closest to the heart for the melody.
5:45:29 > 5:45:34- Can I have a go then?- Sure. - Brilliant. Thank you.
5:45:34 > 5:45:36I don't know where to start.
5:45:36 > 5:45:39- So this would be the C. - The C's are red, the C's.
5:45:39 > 5:45:40I can't do it.
5:45:43 > 5:45:44OK.
5:45:47 > 5:45:50That's the first, yes, so same again.
5:45:50 > 5:45:54CERYS WHISTLES ALONG
5:45:54 > 5:45:55Yeah?
5:45:58 > 5:46:01OK, one, two, three, four.
5:46:01 > 5:46:06MUSIC: "Pwt ar y Bys"
5:46:12 > 5:46:14Yey!
5:46:14 > 5:46:15Oh, gosh!
5:46:15 > 5:46:19So here's Dafydd showing how the triple harp should be played,
5:46:19 > 5:46:21with one of Wales's leading folk bands -
5:46:21 > 5:46:24Ar Log, which in English means "for hire".
5:46:24 > 5:46:27ROUSING FOLK MUSIC MUSIC
5:47:09 > 5:47:12Music is everywhere at the festival
5:47:12 > 5:47:15and just off the main drag is this, the Hay Bale studio.
5:47:18 > 5:47:21And this is young band Yr Angen recording an acoustic session
5:47:21 > 5:47:25in quite the best-smelling studio I've ever been in.
5:47:25 > 5:47:28And the walls really are made of hay.
5:47:30 > 5:47:33SINGS IN WELSH
5:47:51 > 5:47:56On the main site there are performances by bands, big and small, most of the day.
5:47:56 > 5:48:00And a young musician who's just about grown up with the Eisteddfod
5:48:00 > 5:48:03is singer-songwriter Al Lewis.
5:48:05 > 5:48:09- So was the Eisteddfod one of the first places you played?- It was.
5:48:09 > 5:48:13I mean, I remember when I was back in school I was a member of a choir
5:48:13 > 5:48:16and we were lucky enough to get to the main stage
5:48:16 > 5:48:20in the St David's Eisteddfod about ten years ago now.
5:48:20 > 5:48:24I just remember coming out on stage and just that sea of people,
5:48:24 > 5:48:26I'd never experienced anything like that.
5:48:26 > 5:48:29So it definitely helped for when later on in my career
5:48:29 > 5:48:32I was getting to see bigger audiences.
5:48:32 > 5:48:36You can look back on that and use that experience to help you.
5:48:36 > 5:48:38And then you started playing, writing your own songs,
5:48:38 > 5:48:41playing the guitar, setting up a band around yourself.
5:48:41 > 5:48:43That's the brilliant thing about the Eisteddfod.
5:48:43 > 5:48:46Like we see today they have a stage for artists
5:48:46 > 5:48:50who write and sing their own material and you have an audience there,
5:48:50 > 5:48:52ready-made, wanting to listen to you, so it's perfect.
5:48:52 > 5:48:55- Do you want to sing me your song today?- All right then.
5:48:55 > 5:48:58- In fact, please sing your song. - It's called Treading Water.
5:48:58 > 5:49:01# You might say
5:49:01 > 5:49:05# What difference do they make
5:49:05 > 5:49:09# These small little things?
5:49:09 > 5:49:12# But truth be told
5:49:12 > 5:49:14# Well they weigh
5:49:14 > 5:49:18# Heavy on my shoulder
5:49:18 > 5:49:21# These small little things
5:49:21 > 5:49:23# These small little things
5:49:23 > 5:49:26# But all I know
5:49:28 > 5:49:33# Maybe it's the wrong way to go
5:49:33 > 5:49:35# So are we simply
5:49:35 > 5:49:39# Treading water
5:49:39 > 5:49:41# Whilst looking out for
5:49:41 > 5:49:44# Something better?
5:49:44 > 5:49:47# And are we simply
5:49:47 > 5:49:51# Treading water
5:49:51 > 5:49:53# When maybe what we need
5:49:53 > 5:49:59# Is a simple change of scene? #
5:50:06 > 5:50:09I've spotted another familiar face out on the Maes
5:50:09 > 5:50:13although he usually sports a twisty moustache on that well-known TV advert.
5:50:13 > 5:50:14It's Wynne Evans.
5:50:14 > 5:50:17This year has been a big year for you, in Welsh terms.
5:50:17 > 5:50:20You have been learning Welsh on the television. How's it been going?
5:50:20 > 5:50:22It's been OK, actually. It's hard.
5:50:22 > 5:50:26Much harder when you come to it later on in life, as it feels that I am.
5:50:26 > 5:50:29But it's something that I'm going to persevere with this year,
5:50:29 > 5:50:31this is going to be the year to crack it.
5:50:31 > 5:50:34Last year was your first Eisteddfod. You have come back this year.
5:50:34 > 5:50:38Not only are you a judge for a competition, but you are going to be donning those robes,
5:50:38 > 5:50:42- you are going to become a druid, aren't you?- I am, yeah.
5:50:42 > 5:50:45And it's something that's kind of fascinated me for many years
5:50:45 > 5:50:47and never really understood it.
5:50:47 > 5:50:54But, yeah, it was decided that I would be accepted into the Gorsedd, which is the druid.
5:50:54 > 5:50:58And, it's a huge honour. It's something fantastic.
5:50:58 > 5:51:00Have you tried it on?
5:51:00 > 5:51:04No, but I'm really worried that they kind of come in the wrong size for me,
5:51:04 > 5:51:07I'm going to have Ronnie Corbett's druid outfit.
5:51:07 > 5:51:11You'll look like a Cossack or something.
5:51:11 > 5:51:16Let's go back to the judging, what are you going to be looking for when judging the competition?
5:51:16 > 5:51:19It's hard to be that side of the table.
5:51:19 > 5:51:27I've been a pundit before, criticising other people's decisions but never kind of doing the deciding.
5:51:27 > 5:51:29It is hard because you are looking for different things.
5:51:29 > 5:51:32You are not just looking for where the voice is now,
5:51:32 > 5:51:37you are thinking where the voice could be in two, three, four, five years' time.
5:51:40 > 5:51:42So let's hear the top two competitors.
5:51:42 > 5:51:44This is Menna Cazel Davies.
5:51:44 > 5:51:47OPERATIC SOPRANO
5:51:57 > 5:51:59And this is Elin Pritchard.
5:51:59 > 5:52:05OPERATIC SOPRANO
5:52:16 > 5:52:20So did Wynne and his fellow judges choose the right winner?
5:52:20 > 5:52:23Elin Pritchard and Menna Cazel Davies.
5:52:25 > 5:52:30Ah, he hedged his bets and the prize was shared between Elin and Menna.
5:52:30 > 5:52:32APPLAUSE
5:52:32 > 5:52:34Caryl! Caryl!
5:52:38 > 5:52:41Well, here we are at one of the week's traditional ceremonies,
5:52:41 > 5:52:46courtesy of Iolo Morganwg and his opium-fuelled imagination,
5:52:46 > 5:52:49the induction of Welsh worthies into the Gorsedd.
5:52:51 > 5:52:54It's probably the nearest thing in Wales to getting an MBE.
5:52:54 > 5:52:57These days, people from all walks of life
5:52:57 > 5:52:59see it as an honour to be made a member of the Gorsedd.
5:53:03 > 5:53:05As well as poets and intellectuals,
5:53:05 > 5:53:09nowadays sports stars are just as likely to don the druid's robes.
5:53:12 > 5:53:16And there's Wynne. And it looks like they've got his size right.
5:53:19 > 5:53:22Well I've had a great week here in the Vale of Glamorgan,
5:53:22 > 5:53:27witnessing the roots of Welsh culture, still alive and kicking at the Eisteddfod.
5:53:27 > 5:53:31Next year it's going to be in North Wales. So go check it out.
5:53:52 > 5:53:54Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd.