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Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales
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Chair
Chair for the National Eisteddfod in Mold, 1873. It's an early example of what became a popular style in bardic chairs. It features a heraldic dragon, harp, mistletoe and oak leaves with acorns. Carved inscriptions give the name of the winner and location and include the traditional mottoes: ‘Goreu Arv: Arv Dysg’; ‘Yn Nawdd Duw a’i Hedd’; ‘Iaith Enaid ar ei Thannau’; and the Gorsedd motto: ‘Y Gwir yn Erbyn y Byd’ meaning 'the truth against the world'. On the crest is the symbol of the 'Nod Cyfrin' (Mystic Mark or Mark of the Ray of Light), a symbol devised by Iolo Morganwg. Hwfa Môn (Rowland Williams) won the chair. He won several eisteddfod chairs and crowns as well as adjudicating. He was known for his great speeches and was elected Archdruid (the head druid of the Gorsedd of the Bards) from 1895 until his death in 1905.