AustLit

'Like all good things, this issue begins and ends in Victoria. Specifically, it opens with a research article by Robert Tyler on the Welsh in Ballarat in the second half of the nineteenth century. Focusing on the Eisteddfod, Tyler explores the contours of the small but important community of Welsh people in gold-rush Victoria. He discusses the gains and losses of the predominately working-class Eisteddfod becoming a popular festival for all comers in less than 30 years. He conjures eloquently a time when ‘Gymraeg a siaradir, a ysgrifenir, a bregethir, ac a genir yno, a rhoddir cerddoriaeth Gymreig [Welsh is spoken, written, preached and sung, and Welsh music is written]’.' (Kate Fullagar, Jessica Lake, Benjamin Mountford & Ellen Warne : Editorial introduction)