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The Legend of Finndragon’s Curse is the first book in a unique, two book fantasy adventure series and is a fast paced, engaging and thrilling page turner. The story races along with plenty of twists and turns as it heads for the prophesized confrontation between the children and the evil Finndragon himself.
Americymru spoke to author Richard Phillips about the book and his ongoing ''blog tour''.
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AmeriCymru: Hi Richard and many thanks for agreeing to talk to AmeriCymru. How did you become a writer and what attracted you to writing young adult fantasy fiction?
Richard: Diolch. I guess I was always a writer, but didn''t realise it. Well not until my children persuaded me to turn the magical bedtime stories I told them, into a book.
Okay, I wrote a lot of poetry when younger, which gathers dust in the dark recesses of my hard drive. I might take them out one day and see if any are worthy of publication. I also wrote a couple of ''underground'' satirical magazines at work, lampooning my colleagues and their antics. These were great fun, but had a very limited readership.
I actually started writing a sci-fi novel about fifteen years ago, but ran out of steam after just 4,000 words. I don''t think I truly believed in myself back then.
When a very close friend died suddenly aged 42, I wrote some blog posts describing our fantastic (and almost unbelievably true) adventures. These stories are definitely not suitable for younger readers and the blog has long since been removed. However, I think it would be a great to write a work of fiction based on some of the events. If you can imagine something between Twin Town and Grand Slam you''d be on the right lines!
It was my daughter Katie who first started nagging me to write a book about the bedtime stories. These tales always centred around three children named Emma, Megan and Scott, (my kids'' middle names) and their adventures, which usually involved characters ''stolen'' from their favourite TV shows such as Doctor Who. I don''t know quite how, or even when it happened, but the seeds of an idea started to grow. What I did have were the three protagonists. Their characteristics and personalities are based upon my children, albeit older versions.
I wanted the story to be deeply rooted in Wales and also wanted to write about places I knew. That''s where Morlais Castle comes in. It was in my thoughts when describing Castell y Mynydd and is a great starting point for the story. Most importantly, I was writing it for them, so the story had to be suitable for my kids to read. At that time, I didn''t really expect or intend for anyone else to ever read it.
AmeriCymru: Care to introduce the ''Tales of Finndragon'' for our readers?
Richard: Tales of Finndragon is a unique two book fantasy series set firmly in, and under, a fictional 21st century Welsh town named Crafanc y Ddraig. Although written for young adults, the story is suitable for children aged 9 years upwards and has also been very well received by adults who like fantasy books such as Harry Potter.
Book 1, The Legend of Finndragon''s Curse starts with the Davies family, who are still trying to come to terms with the unexplained disappearance of their father and husband.
There is a local legend which has been passed down from generation to generation. It tells of the mighty 6th century, medieval Kingdom of Morgannwg, which was ruled by King Dafydd the Defiant, and his impregnable castle, Castell y Mynydd. Dafydd had a powerful wizard called Finndragon, who cursed the kingdom after being banished and it was swallowed up and sank into the belly of the earth.
One day the siblings, Emma, Megan and Scott discover an ancient scroll and a photograph of the nearby mountains, hidden amongst their dad''s belongings. Realising that these are clues to his disappearance, the children set off to find him and the lost Kingdom of Morgannwg. And that''s where their fantastic adventure begins.
There are many twists and turns over the course of the two books, as the children encounter Finndragon''s terrible demons, magical creatures, and are helped by an inept wizard''s apprentice and by King Dafydd himself.
AmeriCymru: Where can people go online to find your work?
Richard: The books are currently available for kindle via Amazon and will shortly be available in other ebook formats and in print. You can read the first few chapters of each book for free.
AmeriCymru: You have a ''blog tour'' running until the end of June. Care to explain how this works for our readers? How can people participate?
Richard: A blog tour is a virtual book tour, where an author visits several book blogs rather than bookshops. I decided to plan my own tour in order to promote the release of my second book, Return to Finndragon''s Den on 29th May. I sent countless emails to book bloggers and put together a schedule which started 15th May and runs until the end of June.
There are lots of reviews, interviews, guest posts, free ebooks to win and an ambitious and unusual competition.
You can find the schedule on my blog My Name''s Not Earl . I would be grateful if you could checkout all the blogs, it''s not to late to visit the earlier posts. If you like what you see, please support the bloggers by joining their sites. They have been kind enough to help and support me and I want to return the favour in any way I can. If you want to tweet or share the posts on Facebook or via other social media, you will usually find links after the posts.
AmeriCymru: Apart from your blog tour, how are you promoting your books?
Richard: I recently took my son Jonathan to Morlais Castle for the first time, retracing the steps I first took with my own father as a young boy. I have posted some photographs on the Americymru website.
Looking at the photographs gave me an idea and I created a book trailer, which can be viewed on Youtube and on my Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads pages.
AmeriCymru: What''s next for Richard Phillips? Any new titles in the works?
Richard: I want to continue writing young adult fantasy (or possibly sci-fi) for the foreseeable future. I have a few ideas for stand alone stories, one of which will probably be a short story or novella, and hope to get started once the blog tour is over.
In the longer term, I''d like to write for an older audience (although most of my current readers are adults who love fantasy).
Whichever genre I write, I''m sure to be influenced by the people and places I know and love.
AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?
Richard: Thank you for taking an interest in me and my books. I''m always delighted to hear what people think about my books, blog, book trailer and anything else for that matter. You can find me on:
The Darwins are out!!!!
Yes, it's that magical time of year again when the Darwin Awards are
bestowed, honouring the least evolved among us.
Here is the glorious winner:
1. When his 38 caliber revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during
a hold-up in Long Beach , California would-be robber James Elliot did
something that can only inspire wonder. He peered down the barrel and tried
the trigger again. This time it worked.
And now, the honorable mentions:
2. The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat cutting
machine and after a little shopping around, submitted a claim to his
insurance company. The company expecting negligence sent out one of its men
to have a look for himself. He tried the machine and he also lost a finger.
The chef's claim was approved.
3. A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a
blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the
space. Understandably, he shot her.
4. After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver
found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from
Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the
driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free
ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the
staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies..
The deception wasn't discovered for 3 days.
5. An American teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious head
wounds received from an oncoming train. When asked how he received the
injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how close he
could get his head to a moving train before he was hit.
6. A man walked into a Louisiana Circle-K, put a $20 bill on the counter,
and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the man pulled
a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerk promptly
provided. The man took the cash from the clerk and fled, leaving the $20
bill on the counter. The total amount of cash he got from the drawer... $15.
[If someone points a gun at you and gives you money, is a crime committed?]
7. Seems an Arkansas guy wanted some beer pretty badly.. He decided that
he'd just throw a cinder block through a liquor store window, grab some
booze, and run. So he lifted the cinder block and heaved it over his head at
the window. The cinder block bounced back and hit the would-be thief on the
head, knocking him unconscious. The liquor store window was made of
Plexiglas. The whole event was caught on videotape.
8. As a female shopper exited a New York convenience store, a man grabbed
her purse and ran. The clerk called 911 immediately, and the woman was able
to give them a detailed description of the snatcher.
Within minutes, the police apprehended the snatcher. They put him in the car
and drove back to the store. The thief was then taken out of the car and
told to stand there for a positive ID. To which he replied, "Yes, officer,
that's her. That's the lady I stole the purse from."
9. The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a Burger
King in Ypsilanti , Michigan at 5 A.M., flashed a gun, and demanded cash.
The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn't open the cash register
without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they
weren't available for breakfast. The man, frustrated, walked away. [A 5-STAR
STUPIDITY AWARD WINNER]
10. When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on a
Seattle street, he got much more than he bargained for. Police arrived at
the scene to find a very sick man curled up next to a motor home near
spilled sewage. A police spokesman said that the man admitted to trying to
steal gasoline, but he plugged his siphon hose into the motor home's sewage
tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges saying
that it was the best laugh he'd ever had.
In the interest of bettering mankind, please share these with friends and
family....unless of course one of these individuals by chance is a distant
relative or long lost friend. In that case, be glad they are distant and
hope they remain lost.
*** Remember.... They walk among us!!!***
On 29th May 2006, a concert was held in Pontypridd to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau (the Welsh national anthem).
Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau was, originally known as Glan Rhondda (Banks of the Rhondda) and was written in January 1856 by Evan James from Pontypridd, with the music composed by his son, James. It was first performed at Capel Tabor, Maesteg by Elizabeth John also from Pontypridd, later in 1856.
The song became well known nationally, after Thomas Llewelyn of Aberdare included it in his competition winning collection of unpublished Welsh airs at the 1858 Llangollen festival and then allowed the adjudicator John Owen to include it in his publication, Gems of Welsh melody under its now famous title, Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau.
In 1905, the touring New Zealand rugby team started to perform the Haka before every match, and as a response, the Welsh Rugby Union administrator Tom Williams suggested that the Welsh player Teddy Morgan sing Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau. When Morgan began to sing, the crowd joined in and this is credited as being the first time a national anthem was sung at the start of a sporting event. At the time, the official national anthem was "God Save the Prince of Wales", but from then on, "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" was also sung, until 1975, when it was decided that only "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" would be sung.
Versions of Hen Wlad fy Nhadau are also used as anthems in both Cornwall and Brittany.
The Battle of Cadfan, at which the forces of Henry III of England were roundly defeated, is widely believed to have taken place in the Tywi Valley, Carmarthenshire on 29th May 1257.
Henry's army arrived near Carmarthen before marching up the Towy Valley, towards Dinefwr Castle near Llandeilo, which they intended to take from Llywelyn ap Gruffydd and restore to their ally Rhys Fychan. However unbeknown to the English, Rhys had come to an agreement with Llywelyn, which left them without a guide in hostile and unfamiliar territory.
On the first engagement, the English army drove the Welsh westwards towards the heavily wooded area known as Broad Oak, where many more Welsh were positioned to ambush the unsuspecting English. The fighting continued all day with the Welsh employing continual hit and run tactics, using their knowledge of the area to their advantage, before striking a final blow to the tired and confused English. It is reported that 2000 of Henry's army were killed and many nobles taken hostage.
Many local place names recall the battle, with Cadfan deriving from the Welsh cad meaning battle and ban meaning peak. A local bridge, Pont Steffan is named after the English army's leader and close confidant to Henry III, Stephan Bacon who was killed in the battle and nearby fields carry the names Cae Ochain - field of groans, Cae Tranc - field of death and Cae Ffrainc - field of Normans.
On 29th May 1953, Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay were the first to conquer the summit of Everest.
However, it could easily have been Welshman Charles Evans planting a flag on the highest mountain in the world! He was a senior member of the 1953 expeditionary team and had been nominated as the one to make the final ascent. Evans, raised in Wales and a fluent Welsh speaker, was only 300 metres short of the summit when he had trouble with his oxygen equipment and had to return to Everest base camp, leaving Hillary and Tenzing to take the glory. However, this was not to be Evans's last expedition, as 2 years later, on 28th May 1955, he led the expedition that conquered Kanchenjunga in India, the world's third highest mountain.
Born this day 1933 in Wrexham
Nick Whitehead - Olympic bronze medal athlete, as part of the 4x100m relay team at the Rome Olympics of 1960. Whitehead later became the first director of the national coaching foundation and coached the Great Britain athletics team at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
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....one from north and one from south Wales
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Celt Experience Brewery, Ogham Willow 8.8% ABV
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Purple Moose Brewery, Snowdonia Ale 3.6% ABV
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A guide to over 100 pubs in Wales with historic interiors of real national significance, many of them stretching back a century or more.
Born on this day 1354 (according to Pennant),
Owain Glyndŵr , who led a popular uprising against English rule in the 15th century which lasted more than a decade.
Owain was a member of the Welsh gentry who studied law at the Inns of Court in London and who was descended from the ancient royal houses of Wales. In 1400, after a century of subjugation to the English crown, the Welsh were ready for rebellion. Henry IV had seized power from Richard II, and the new king refused to support Glyndŵr's legitimate grievance against Reginald de Grey, Lord of Ruthin. This initially local dispute quickly became a national uprising. Rallying other Welsh nobles, Glyndŵr proclaimed himself Prince of Wales. Support for his cause was widespread, with Welshmen from Oxford and London returning home to join Glyndŵr's rebellion. Henry responded by marching his army into Wales. Glyndŵr remained elusive, harrying Henry's army and ravaging his strongholds. By the end of 1403, Owain Glyndŵr controlled much of Wales.
Glyndŵr sought to establish alliances, notably with the French. His 'Pennal' letter to Charles VI of France survives today and resulted in some financial and military support. French troops landed at Milford Haven in 1405 but only remained fighting alongside Glyndŵr for under a year. Owain's defeat at Pwllmelyn in Monmouthshire was a turning point, after which his power ebbed. Glyndwr retreat into the heartland of central Wales, where he died, probably in around 1416, still a free man, having secured a legendary place in Welsh history.
Born this day 1848 in Saundersfoot,
William Frost, arguably the true inventor of the flying machine.
Frost conceived the idea of building a flying machine in the 1890s and despite a lack of funds, constructed the "Frost Airship Glider", which seems to have resembled a vertical takeoff airplane, with gas-filled tanks. Frost reportedly made a flight on or about 2 September 1896. Observers claimed that the machine flew for 500 metres before crashing, outdistancing the Wright brothers in their first powered flight. Unfortunately, Frost's machine was destroyed in a storm the same night, and the flight, though witnessed, was not recorded. Frost applied for a patent which was accepted and registered in London, but he was too poor to pay the renewal fees and the patent lapsed. He died without wealth or recognition in 1935.
Born this day in 1883 in Gayton, Northamptonshire, England,
Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis , architect, who built the village of Portmeirion between 1925 and 1975.
The family had strong Welsh roots and Williams-Ellis claimed direct descent from Owain Gwynedd. He is regarded as being a self-taught architect and landscape designer, and was passionate about environmental protection, which led to a knighthood in 1971 for his services ‘to architecture and the environment’.
He is most closely associated with the construction of the Italianate village of Portmeirion, the setting for the ‘cult’ drama series ‘The Prisoner’ starring Patrick MaGoohan, which was filmed there in 1967. Today the village is a tourist attraction and a lasting tribute to his vision and work.
Born this day 1968 in Melbourne, Australia (her mother, Carol Ann (nee Jones) was a former dancer from Maesteg, and along with sister Dannii, has always been proud of her Welsh roots)
Kylie Minogue OBE , Australian pop singer, songwriter, and actress.
Her role in the television soap series 'Neighbours' brought her recognition, but it was as a pop artist that she became globally popular. She is the only female vocalist to have produced UK chart-topping albums in four consecutive decades (the 80s, 90s, 00s and 10s).
On 28th May 2010, Llanrwst celebrated the 400th anniversary of the almshouses built by Sir John Wynn.
They were built in 1610, providing lodgings for 12 almsmen; people who were too poor to afford their own homes, and continued to shelter the needy of the parish until 1976, long after council provision had superseded the role of almshouses.
The building lay empty for the next 25 years but was restored and opened as a community museum by the Almshouse Museum Trust in 2002, closing in 2011 when the trust's lease expired. It is now used as the headquarters of Llanrwst Town Council.
On 28th May 1987, the Mametz Wood Memorial, sculpted by David Petersen, was unveiled in Cardiff.
The First Battle of the Somme was one of the most savage battles of the First World War. The 38th Welsh Division was given the job of attacking Mametz Wood on 7th July 1916 but were driven back by heavy German machine gun fire. They were ordered to attack again and succeeded in reaching the wood. By 12th July, the Germans and their machine guns had been ousted from the woods but more than 4,000 soldiers from the Welsh Division had been killed in the process.
28th May 1971 saw the opening of the Llanberis Lake Heritage Railway.
It runs along the trackbed of the defunct Padarn Railway, which was originally built in 1842 to carry slate from the Dinorwic Quarry to Y Felinheli (Port Dinorwic) on the Menai Strait.
On 28th May 1865 the clipper ship "Mimosa" set sail from Liverpool carrying 153 Welsh emigrants bound for Patagonia.
The passengers paid £12 per adult and £6 per child for the journey. Their aim was to establish a Welsh colony in the Chubut River valley in a bid to preserve the Welsh language and culture. They landed on July 28 and were met by Edwyn Cynrig Roberts and Lewis Jones who had arrived in Patagonia in June to prepare for the main cohort of settlers. They named their landing site Porth Madryn and on September 15th 1865, the first town in the colony was named Rawson, which was followed by settlements at Gaiman and Trelew.
In 1875 the Argentine government granted the Welsh settlers ownership of the land, encouraging hundreds of others from Wales to join the colony.
Today, more than 50,000 Patagonians are of Welsh descent, with almost 5,000 being Welsh speakers. The Welsh-Argentine colony, which became known as Y Wladfa, remains centered around Gaiman, Trelew and Trevelin.
A RAVEN ABOVE PRESS
Presents the
Los Angeles St. David's Day Festival-National Day of Wales
Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant, Los Angeles-Diwrnod Cenedlaethol Cymru
March 1, 2014
Barnsdall Art Park, 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90027
Free Outdoor Festival 10am-5pm
Druid Blessing 1:30pm and Grand Concert from 2pm to 5pm
We are very proud to announce Meinir Gwilym will be making her North American debut headlining the St. David's Day Festival-National Day of Wales Grand Concert!
Born and raised in the small village of Llangristiolus in the heart of the Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Mn) off the North Wales coast, singer-songwriter Meinir Gwilym has established herself as one of the best-selling Welsh language artists ever. Her breakout release Smcs, Coffi a Fodca Rhad (Cigarrettes, Coffee and Cheap Vodka) in 2002 met with phenomenal response being hailed as one of the most original and inspired compilations to come out of Wales in years. Follow-up albums have built on her success with performances at all major festivals in Wales, including Sesiwn Fawr Dolgellau, Maes B, The Royal Welsh Show and Bryn Terfels Faenol Festival.
Meinirs list of accomplishments include presenting shows for: BBC radio and Heart FM, music series Noson Chis a Meinir on television and school tours, S4C (Channel 4 Wales)s nightly magazine show, Wedi 7, and a special one hour fly-on-the-wall S4C broadcast documentary which followed Meinir for a year, including an inside look at Yamaha by whom she is endorsed.
Along with traditional Welsh songs and her hits, Meinir will be performing new material from her forthcoming album!
The Grand Concert will also be featuring Welsh harpsichordist Christopher D. Lewis!
Christopher was born in Rhiwbina, Wales, and moved to North America in 2005 to study harpsichord with Luc Beausejour & Hank Knox at McGill University, Montreal. Since that time he has received outstanding recognition and accolades for his performances internationally. Christopher will be performing a special set dedicated to British and Welsh composers (and he will be playing on the harpsichord that appeared in the movie Titanic).
Christopher's set is sure to be informative, as he has presented numerous lectures on the history of the harpsichord and narrated for many projects. Past projects include collaborations and performances with American Bach Soloists, The San Francisco Bach Choir, The Bay Area Rainbow Symphony, Ensemble Parallele and The San Francisco Conservatory of Music's New Music Ensemble.
We are also excited by the return of the Welsh Choir of Southern California (Cor Cymraeg De Califfornia) to the Grand Concert stage. Under the direction of Tony Davis, the choir performs Welsh traditional and hymnal music and believes in the power of music to restore our faith in life, in ourselves, and in each other. The Choirs repertoire is one hundred percent Welsh, with approximately two-thirds sung in the Welsh language and one-third in English.
To begin the Grand Concert, we will be showing Yr Etifeddiaeth (The Heritage).
Yr Etifeddiaeth was filmed between 1947 and 1949 by 'Y Cymro' photographer Geoffrey Charles, with the newspaper's editor, John Roberts Williams, as director and script-writer. It presents the culture, work and rural way of life in Llyn and Eifionydd. Freddie Grant, a young, black evacuee from Liverpool who was housed with Eliseus Williams, ex-headteacher of Llangybi school and friend of John Roberts Williams, is used, initially, as (voice-less) presenter. The poet 'Cynan' [Albert Evans-Jones], is the narrator, extolling the area's past and present - in which communities are held together by a shared culture and language - but expressing concern that its future is threatened by the readily available modern, but English-language, media and the hordes of English-speaking summer visitors who visit, many of whom stay at the new Butlins holiday camp at Pwllheli (opened in 1947 with accommodation for 5,000 people).
The film closes with shots of the summer visitors splashing about in the Butlins swimming pool and, in contrast, a small but respectable band of the Cymry Cymraeg gathered outside the chapel on Sunday morning, torch-bearers for the threatened faith and tradition.
Yr Etifeddiaeth was first shown at the National Eisteddfod in Dolgellau in 1949, attracting full houses for the nightly screenings. (Description from the National Screen and Sound Archives of Wales)
Outside the Grand Concert beginning at 10am visitors will be delighted in a free Celtic Marketplace, Welsh language classes by Jason Shepherd of the Learn Welsh Podcast, Celtic workshops, Welsh Corgi demonstrations, Kids Crafts, and the LA Eisteddfod featuring poetry, storytelling, readings, performance, Welsh food, and much more.
We will be promoting artists from both Wales and the US in a special book release party for 'The Age of Saints. An illustrated guide to the Saints of Wales' written by Peter Anthony Freeman from Llanelli, Wales and published by A Raven Above Press. Artists include Ruth Jn Evans, Jen Delyth, Martyn Jones, Anthony Richards, Nathan Wyburn, Siobhan Owen, Sarah Hope, Nichola Hope, Robert Karr, Judy Adamson, Kerry Evans, Jo Mazelis, Liam OConnor, Eirian Llwyd, Istebrak Al, Michele Witchipoo, Karen Richards, Briana Lopez, Kelly Haigh, Rochelle Shelly Rosenkild, John Charles, Geri Gallas, Danny Walden, Kimberly Wlassak, Jason Shepherd, Lorin Morgan-Richards, and many more!
Also, artist Kimberly Wlassak will be exhibiting her artwork from the book 'Tylwyth Teg: Excerpts from The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries ,' by W.Y. Evans-Wentz, and illustrated by Kimberly Wlassak. This book will be in association with activities for kids, where they can try on their own fairy wings or learn how to fly like a dragon at the kids craft corner!
Today is the feast day of Saint Melangell, patron saint of hares and rabbits.
Prince Brochwel Ysgithrog was hunting near Pennant in the year 604 when his hounds chased a hare into a thicket, where they found a beautiful maiden at prayer. The hare sheltered under the hem of her garment, and the dogs fled. The Prince, discovering that the lady was Melangell, a king’s daughter who had fled Ireland to escape a forced marriage, gave her the valley as a place of sanctuary. Melangell remained there, where she founded a nunnery.
On 27th May 1989, John Evans of Fforestfach became the UK's oldest man ever; Evans died the following year aged 110, but the record stood until 2009. He remains the longest-lived Welsh-born person.
Evans had been a coal miner and attributed his longevity to abstinence from drinking, smoking and swearing.
In May 2006, two Big Brother contestants, Imogen Thomas and Glyn Wise, were told not to use the Welsh language in private conversations. The ruling was reversed after a formal complaint from Cymdeithas yr Iaith (The Welsh Language Society).
Born this day in 1881 in Cardiff,
Edward Vivian Robertson , who became a United States Senator for Wyoming. Having served in the Welsh Regiment during the Second Boer War, he became a mechanical and electric power engineer. He emigrated to the United States in 1912 and settled in Park County, Wyoming, raising livestock and engaging in the mercantile business at Cody between 1912 and 1942.
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Held on this day in 1929 at Corwen in North Wales, the first Urdd National Eisteddfod.
It is one of the biggest youth festivals in Europe and is hosted by a different area of Wales each year, with over 15,000 young people competing during the week in a variety of events including dancing, singing and drama. The competitors are the winners of local and regional rounds contested earlier in the spring. The pavilion, seating 1,800 people is the focal point of the event, but the eisteddfod field, the ' maes', has stalls, live music and sporting events, making it one of the most popular events in Wales, attracting 100,000 visitors each year.
On 26th May 1568, a congress of "bards and musicians" took place at Caerwys on the orders of Queen Elizabeth I.
In ancient Celtic times, a bard composed verses to honour heroic achievements, with poems and tales being passed from generation to generation.
The tradition continued in Early Medieval times through bards such as Taliesin and Aneurin.
Later Medieval bards fulfilled three functions: they continued to celebrate victories, but they also chanted the nation's laws and recited genealogies. They were treated with respect and were exempt from taxes. Festivals were held, at which the most renowned bards from various districts contended in song. This form of bardic tradition ended in the 13th century when the 1282 conquest ended the rule of the Welsh princes.
However, the poetic traditions were continued throughout the Middle Ages, by noted 14th-century poets such as Dafydd ap Gwilym and Iolo Goch. The tradition of assembling bards at an eisteddfod never lapsed and was bolstered by the formation of the Gorsedd by Iolo Morganwg in 1792, establishing Wales as an upholder of the bardic tradition even in modern times.
On 26th May 1940, Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered the evacuation of a third of a million Allied troops from Dunkirk. Several of the small boats and ships involved in that historic rescue operation sailed from Welsh ports; these included the paddle steamer Glengower and the ferry boat The Scotia.
In May 1534, the notoriously anti-Welsh bishop Rowland Lee was appointed President of the Council of Wales and the Marches. Lee claimed to have hanged 5000 Welshmen in his five years in charge, which resulted in him being referred to as the "hanging Bishop".
The Council was first convened in 1472 by Edward IV to act on behalf of his son, the infant Edward, Prince of Wales, who he established at Ludlow Castle.
Under Henry VIII, the Laws in Wales Act of 1542 gave the Council statutory recognition. It continued to convene at Ludlow and had jurisdiction over the whole of Wales, along with Cheshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire.
It was to hear all civil and criminal suits; it was to try all cases of murder; it was to investigate charges of misgovernment, and to deal with disputes.
The Council was abolished in July 1689, following the "Glorious Revolution" which overthrew James II and established William III as king.
