Gorsedd Beirdd Ynys Prydain

Gorsedd Beirdd Ynys Prydain [W, Throne/ Assembly of the Bards of the Isle of Britain]. Society founded by Iolo Morganwg in 1792 to celebrate Welsh poetry, music, and culture, its first meeting held at Primrose Hill, London, to remind the English of their Celtic antecedents. Although the word gorsedd is found in early Welsh texts, e.g. the gorsedd of Arberth, the present celebration of the Gorsedd unquestionably begins with Iolo; he later encouraged the establishment of a gorsedd in each province of Wales. By the mid-19th century, the Gorsedd had become a part of the national Eisteddfod. Membership in the Gorsedd was about 1,300 at the end of the 20th century. A Breton Gorsedd, Gorzez Breizh, was founded in 1901; the Cornish, Gorseth Kernow, in 1927.

Bibliography

See Geraint Bowen , Hanes Gorsedd y Beirdd (Felindre, UK, 1991);
Dillwyn Miles , The Secret of the Bards of the Isle of Britain (Llandybie, UK, 1992).