Archdruid reflects on Senedd election in National Eisteddfod proclamation speech

The Archdruid used her proclamation speech for the 2027 National Eisteddfod to reflect on Wales’ political turning point following the Senedd election, calling for peace, unity and a renewed commitment to shared values and the Welsh language.

The 2027 Maldwyn Meirionnydd National Eisteddfod Proclamation Ceremony took place in Llanidloes today (Saturday 9 May).

According to tradition, the Proclamation is held at least a year and a day before the Eisteddfod in order to welcome the festival to the area, as well as to welcome the area to be part of the festival.

The ceremony filled the streets of Llanidloes with a colourful procession, bringing together schools, local associations and community groups from across the Eisteddfod’s catchment area.

Following the procession, at the ceremony led by Gorsedd Cymru, Archdruid Mererid Hopwood received the first copy of the Rhestr Testunau (List of Competitions) from Aled Griffiths, Chair of the Executive Committee.

The Archdruid said: “It’s a particular pleasure to come here right to the centre of Wales to proclaim the Maldwyn Meirionnydd Eisteddfod: a special place and a special time too.

“This year, we’re celebrating 850 years of recorded competing in the name of the arts – music and poetry.  I say ‘recorded’, because we do have a record of the bardic and musical knock-out competition that the Arglwydd Rhys held in Aberteifi back in 1176.

“And we know that there is plenty of talk of this kind of activity much earlier in our history: we can be certain therefore that this tradition of taking pleasure and pride in the creative arts has been an integral part of our culture in this ‘small corner of the world’ – ‘y gongl fach hon o’r ddaear’ – to quote the Old Man of Pencader.

“It’s also a significant year as it’s the bicentenary of the death of the colourful Iolo Morganwg, the unconventional father of this Gorsedd. We know about him walking the length and breadth of Wales to awaken us.

“And if the good people of Carmarthen like to boast about the fact that it was there in the Great Eisteddfod of 1819, that Iolo united the Eisteddfod and the Gorsedd as part of his great plans for revival, let’s not forget that it was some fifteen miles from here, in Ceri, that the Eisteddfod’s executive committee met. The HQ was in Ceri, in the home of the local vicar, Ifor Ceri.

“And what about this for a quiz question, perhaps especially to the pundits from the topmost regions of the Maldwyn Meirionnydd Eisteddfod catchment area: Ifor Ceri’s given name was John Jenkins – from Llangoedmor, one of the parishes in the Garreg Las Eisteddfod  – and if I were to call him by the name of his farm, he would be ‘John Cilbronne’, … so fingers on the buzzer: in whose winning poem does that character make an appearance? I can give you a clue: Bala 2009.

“But this ceremony is not a quiz, and thankfully, this Gorsedd is not a political party, though there is a third reason why this period is so significant.

“Some gathered here today will be disappointed following yesterday’s result, some will be overjoyed. Nobody, I think, will be indifferent, because this is a period of notable change in our story, a change that is sure to affect us all.

“No, this Gorsedd is not a political movement, but becoming a member is a vote for a very clear manifesto … and wasn’t it wonderful to see the enthusiastic response last week from people from all parts of Wales who will become members later this summer.

“And here, from the middle of Wales as we stand on a historic threshold, I would unapologetically like to remind us all again of this manifesto, because, no matter what the arrangements of the new government will be, I’m quite sure it would serve us well to consider the principles that form the basis of the Gorsedd society.

“We have all pledged to respect the arts and protect the Welsh language… The Gorsedd meeting place forms the shape of a circle, not a pyramid, it’s not about the very few at the top and the very many at the bottom; this is a place to respect everybody equally…

“As you have already heard, and as the Board we have agreed this –  we will be reinforcing our plea for peace with the words, ‘BYDDED HEDDWCH,’ let there be peace, and in so doing, unequivocally emphasising the statement that attempting to manage the affairs of the state on the basis of force and violence is futile.

“It’s good to be able to declare this. It’s too bad that this is necessary.

“And it’s good to be able to state it in this small corner right in the middle of Wales. Wales. Cymru. Combrogos. ‘Com’: together. ‘Brogos’: a patch of land. Combrogos. Cymru: a patch of land we share together. Share together, not divide between us.

“Yes, we may well appear somewhat out of the ordinary in our Gorsedd robes, but our principles are quite extraordinary too, extraordinarily precious, challenging, radical even.

“The middle of Wales, in Welsh is canol Cymru. An anagram of ‘canol’ is ‘calon’. Heart of Wales. ‘Calon wrth galon’, heart to heart, let’s cross this threshold peacefully and with determined assertion to keep to our manifest and work together to realise it, knowing, as Mari Lisa a poet from these parts, knew, the value of the communities of the world lies in the stitches that unite them’.”

The List of Competitions containing details of all Eisteddfod 2027 competitions is now available in local shops across Wales.

Poet Mererid Hopwood became the Archdruid of Wales in 2023, after becoming the first woman to be awarded the Eisteddfod chair in 2001.

At the Wrecsam Eisteddfod in 2025, she welcomed 38 people into the Gorsedd, a society of those who have contributed to Welsh culture and society, including Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth.

For more information about the 2027 Maldwyn Meirionnydd National Eisteddfod, visit their site here.