Queen of Romania's hotel

Jul 23, 2015

The bardic black chair of 1876


The posthumous bardic chair for Hedd Wyn, killed in the First World War, was famously covered with a black cloth, but that was not the first time the National Eisteddfod ...

had shrouded the chair in this way. In 1876, Taliesin o Eifion died just after posting his ode to the Eisteddfod adjudicators. The ode won the chair, and spectators at the Eisteddfod ceremony said it had been like chairing a ghost. Taliesin o Eifion was buried outside St John's Church in Llangollen, the church favoured by local Welsh speakers. For more on this story, scan the HistoryPoints QR codes on the noticeboard near the main churchyard entrance. Or click here