Albert Evans-Jones
Encyclopedia
Sir Cynan Evans-Jones CBE
(April 14, 1895
– January 26, 1970
), more commonly known within Wales
by his bardic name
of Cynan, was a Welsh
poet and dramatist.
, the son of Richard Albert Jones and Hannah Jane (née Evans) his father was the proprietor of the Central Restaurant in Penlan Street, Pwllheli. He was educated at Pwllheli Grammar School and the University College of North Wales where he graduated in 1916.
serving initially as an ambulance man and then as the company's pastor. His wartime experience had a profound effect on his poetic works, to such an extent that Alan Llwyd
claims that Cynan, not Hedd Wyn
, is the premier Welsh war poet
of the First World War. Hedd Wyn's poems relating to the war were written before he had enlisted and he was killed before he could recount his experience of the war in his muse. Cynan, however, gives the best descriptions of the gritty atrocities of war, and the impact of war on a man's body as well as his spirit.
to train for the ministry of The Presbyterian Church of Wales
. He was ordained at Penmaenmawr
Caernarfonshire in 1920 where he served as minister until 1931 when he relinquished his calling having been appointed a tutor in the Extramural Department of the University College of North Wales specialising in Drama and Welsh Literature. Despite having given up his ministry Cynan continued to accept regular preaching engagements, and was one of the most popular preachers of his day on the nonconformist preaching circuit in Wales.
Whilst working in the University Cynan Lived in Menai Bridge
Anglesey
, but in his best known poem he expressed a wish to retire to Aberdaron
Caernarfonshire,
Pan fwyf yn hen a pharchus
Ac arian yn fy nghod,
A phob beirniadaeth drosodd
A phawb yn canu 'nghlod
Mi brynaf fwthyn unig
Heb ddim o flaen y ddôr.
Ond creigiau Aberdaron
A thonnau Gwyllt y Môr
When I am old and respectable, with money in my pocket, when all judgement is over, and all are singing my praises, I shall buy a lonely cottage, with naught outside its door, but the rocks of Aberdaron and the wild sea's waves.
's Good Friday and Norman Nicholson
's The Old Man of the Mountain.
In 1931 he was appointed reader of Welsh plays on behalf of the Lord Chamberlain
, a post which he held till the abolition of censorship in 1968. He was seen as a liberal censor
, having allowed James Kitchener Davies
' drama Cwm Glo, a play full of "filth and depravation" to be performed after it won the drama prize in the 1934 Eisteddfod.
Cynan made regular appearances on Welsh language radio and TV programmes, and he was the subject of the first Colour TV programme broadcast in the Welsh Language Llanc o Lŷn.
twice, the only person to have been elected to the position for a second term. His two terms were from 1950 till 1954 and from 1963 till 1966. He was the Recorder of the Gorsedd
of Bards in 1935, and joint-secretary of the National Eisteddfod Council in 1937. He was the First Archdruid to accept that the Gorsedd was the invention of Iolo Morganwg
and that it had no links to antiquity or with the ancient Druids, thus healing rifts between the academic and ecclesiastical establishments and the Eisteddfod movement.
Cynan is also responsible for designing the modern ceremonies of the Crowning and the Chairing of the Bard
in the Eisteddfod as they are now performed, by creating ceremonies which, he thought, reflected the spirit of the Welsh Nation.
Cynan was also prominent as a National Eisteddfod competitor. He won the crown in 1921 at the Caernarfon National Eisteddfod for his poem Mab y Bwthyn (A cottage son), which recounted the experience of a Welshman in the Great War. He won the Crown for his poem Yr Ynys Unig (The Lonely Isle) in the Mold Eisteddfod of 1923; his third crowned poem, Y Dyrfa / The Crowd ( Bangor 1931 ), described a rugby match - the first time such a topic was attempted in Welsh poetry. To add to his three crowns Cynan was also awarded the chair in 1924 for a poem I'r Duw nid adwaenir (To the unknown God), which is a unique achievement in that it is the only time that the chair has been awarded to a winning poem that was not written within the strict rules of Cynghanedd
.
Cynan also adjudicated many times at the National Eisteddfod.
He was awarded the freedom of the borough of Pwllheli in 1963.
He was appointed C.B.E. in 1949, and knighted in 1969.
CBE
CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...
(April 14, 1895
1895 in Wales
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1895 to Wales and its people.-Incumbents:*Prince of Wales — The Prince Albert Edward, son of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom*Princess of Wales — Alexandra of Denmark...
– January 26, 1970
1970 in Wales
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1970 to Wales and its people.-Incumbents:*Prince of Wales - Charles, Prince of Wales*Princess of Wales - vacant*Secretary of State for Wales - George Thomas*Archbishop of Wales - Glyn Simon...
), more commonly known within Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
by his bardic name
Bardic name
A bardic name is a pseudonym, used in Wales, Cornwall and Brittany, by poets and other artists, especially those involved in the eisteddfod movement....
of Cynan, was a Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
poet and dramatist.
Early life
Cynan was born in PwllheliPwllheli
Pwllheli is a community and the main market town of the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd, north-western Wales. It has a population of 3,861, of which a large proportion, 81 per cent, are Welsh speaking. Pwllheli is the place where Plaid Cymru was founded. It is the birthplace of Albert Evans-Jones -...
, the son of Richard Albert Jones and Hannah Jane (née Evans) his father was the proprietor of the Central Restaurant in Penlan Street, Pwllheli. He was educated at Pwllheli Grammar School and the University College of North Wales where he graduated in 1916.
First World War
On graduation Cynan joined the Welsh Student Company of the RAMC, serving in Salonika and FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
serving initially as an ambulance man and then as the company's pastor. His wartime experience had a profound effect on his poetic works, to such an extent that Alan Llwyd
Alan Llwyd
Alan Llwyd , original name Alan Lloyd Roberts, is a Welsh poet, literary critic and editor, one of the most prolific Welsh-language poets in the last quarter of the 20th century....
claims that Cynan, not Hedd Wyn
Hedd Wyn
Hedd Wyn was a Welsh language poet who was killed during the Battle of Passchendaele in World War I. He was posthumously awarded the bard's chair at the 1917 National Eisteddfod...
, is the premier Welsh war poet
War poet
A War poet is a poet writing in time of and on the subject of war. The term, which is applied especially to those in military service during World War I, was documented as early as 1848 in reference to German revolutionary poet, Georg Herwegh.-Crimean War:...
of the First World War. Hedd Wyn's poems relating to the war were written before he had enlisted and he was killed before he could recount his experience of the war in his muse. Cynan, however, gives the best descriptions of the gritty atrocities of war, and the impact of war on a man's body as well as his spirit.
Post war Career
After the war, Cynan entered Coleg y BalaBala, Gwynedd
Bala is a market town and community in Gwynedd, Wales, and formerly an urban district of the historic county of Merionethshire. It lies at the north end of Bala Lake , 17 miles north-east of Dolgellau, with a population of 1,980...
to train for the ministry of The Presbyterian Church of Wales
Presbyterian Church of Wales
The Presbyterian Church of Wales , also known as The Calvinistic Methodist Church , is a denomination of Protestant Christianity. It was born out of the Welsh Methodist revival and the preaching of Hywel Harris Howell Harris in the 18th century and seceded from the Church of England in 1811...
. He was ordained at Penmaenmawr
Penmaenmawr
PenmaenmawrConwyPenmaenmawr is a town in the parish of Dwygyfylchi, in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The population was 3857 in 2001. It is a quarrying town, though the latter is no longer a major employer, on the North Wales coast between Conwy and Llanfairfechan.The town was bypassed by the A55...
Caernarfonshire in 1920 where he served as minister until 1931 when he relinquished his calling having been appointed a tutor in the Extramural Department of the University College of North Wales specialising in Drama and Welsh Literature. Despite having given up his ministry Cynan continued to accept regular preaching engagements, and was one of the most popular preachers of his day on the nonconformist preaching circuit in Wales.
Whilst working in the University Cynan Lived in Menai Bridge
Menai Bridge
Menai Bridge is a small town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in north Wales. It overlooks the Menai Strait and lies by the Menai Suspension Bridge, built in 1826 by Thomas Telford...
Anglesey
Anglesey
Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...
, but in his best known poem he expressed a wish to retire to Aberdaron
Aberdaron
Aberdaron is a community and former fishing village at the western tip of the Llŷn Peninsula in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. It lies west of Pwllheli and south west of Caernarfon, and has a population of 1,019. It is sometimes referred to as the "Land's End of Wales"...
Caernarfonshire,
Pan fwyf yn hen a pharchus
Ac arian yn fy nghod,
A phob beirniadaeth drosodd
A phawb yn canu 'nghlod
Mi brynaf fwthyn unig
Heb ddim o flaen y ddôr.
Ond creigiau Aberdaron
A thonnau Gwyllt y Môr
When I am old and respectable, with money in my pocket, when all judgement is over, and all are singing my praises, I shall buy a lonely cottage, with naught outside its door, but the rocks of Aberdaron and the wild sea's waves.
Drama
Apart from being an important figure in Welsh poetic circles Cynan was also influential in the field of Welsh drama. He wrote two full length plays: Hywel Harris won the premier Eisteddfod prize for drama in 1931. He was commissioned to write an exemplary play for the National Eisteddfod in 1957 – his offering Absolom Fy Mab was accepted to great critical acclaim in Welsh dramatic circles as were his translations of English Language plays John MasefieldJohn Masefield
John Edward Masefield, OM, was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death in 1967...
's Good Friday and Norman Nicholson
Norman Nicholson
Norman Cornthwaite Nicholson OBE, , was an English poet, known for his association with the Cumberland town of Millom...
's The Old Man of the Mountain.
In 1931 he was appointed reader of Welsh plays on behalf of the Lord Chamberlain
Lord Chamberlain
The Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom and is to be distinguished from the Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the Great Officers of State....
, a post which he held till the abolition of censorship in 1968. He was seen as a liberal censor
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
, having allowed James Kitchener Davies
James Kitchener Davies
James Kitchener Davies , also known as J. Kitchener Davies, was a Welsh poet and playwright who wrote mostly in the Welsh language...
' drama Cwm Glo, a play full of "filth and depravation" to be performed after it won the drama prize in the 1934 Eisteddfod.
Cynan made regular appearances on Welsh language radio and TV programmes, and he was the subject of the first Colour TV programme broadcast in the Welsh Language Llanc o Lŷn.
National Eisteddfod
Cynan is best known for his huge influence in the modernisation of the National Eisteddfod. He was ArchdruidArchdruid
The Archdruid is the title used by the presiding official of the Gorsedd.The Archdruid presides over the most important ceremonies at the National Eisteddfod of Wales including the Crowning of the Bard, The Award of the Prose Medal and Chairing of the Bard. From 1932 only former winners of the...
twice, the only person to have been elected to the position for a second term. His two terms were from 1950 till 1954 and from 1963 till 1966. He was the Recorder of the Gorsedd
Gorsedd
A gorsedd plural gorseddau, is a community or coming together of modern-day bards. The word is of Welsh origin, meaning "throne". It is occasionally spelled gorsedh , or goursez in Brittany....
of Bards in 1935, and joint-secretary of the National Eisteddfod Council in 1937. He was the First Archdruid to accept that the Gorsedd was the invention of Iolo Morganwg
Iolo Morganwg
Edward Williams, better known by his bardic name Iolo Morganwg , was an influential Welsh antiquarian, poet, collector, and literary forger. He was widely considered a leading collector and expert on medieval Welsh literature in his day, but after his death it was revealed that he had forged a...
and that it had no links to antiquity or with the ancient Druids, thus healing rifts between the academic and ecclesiastical establishments and the Eisteddfod movement.
Cynan is also responsible for designing the modern ceremonies of the Crowning and the Chairing of the Bard
Chairing of the Bard
The Chairing of the Bard is one of the most important events in the Welsh eisteddfod tradition. The most famous chairing ceremony takes place at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, and is always on the Friday afternoon of Eisteddfod week....
in the Eisteddfod as they are now performed, by creating ceremonies which, he thought, reflected the spirit of the Welsh Nation.
Cynan was also prominent as a National Eisteddfod competitor. He won the crown in 1921 at the Caernarfon National Eisteddfod for his poem Mab y Bwthyn (A cottage son), which recounted the experience of a Welshman in the Great War. He won the Crown for his poem Yr Ynys Unig (The Lonely Isle) in the Mold Eisteddfod of 1923; his third crowned poem, Y Dyrfa / The Crowd ( Bangor 1931 ), described a rugby match - the first time such a topic was attempted in Welsh poetry. To add to his three crowns Cynan was also awarded the chair in 1924 for a poem I'r Duw nid adwaenir (To the unknown God), which is a unique achievement in that it is the only time that the chair has been awarded to a winning poem that was not written within the strict rules of Cynghanedd
Cynghanedd
In Welsh language poetry, Cynghanedd is the basic concept of sound-arrangement within one line, using stress, alliteration and rhyme. The various forms of cynghanedd show up in the definitions of all formal Welsh verse forms, such as the awdl. Though of ancient origin, cynghanedd and variations of...
.
Cynan also adjudicated many times at the National Eisteddfod.
Honours
Cynan was awarded the honorary degree of D.Litt. by the University of Wales in 1961.He was awarded the freedom of the borough of Pwllheli in 1963.
He was appointed C.B.E. in 1949, and knighted in 1969.
Marriage
Cynan was married twice: first, in 1921, to Ellen J. Jones of Pwllheli; they had one son and one daughter. Ellen died in 1962. In 1963 he married Menna Meirion Jones of Valley, Anglesey.Death and Burial
Cynan died on 26 January 1970 and was buried in the yard of Ynys Tysilio Church, Church Island, Menai Straits, Anglesey.Further reading
- Bedwyr Lewis Jones, Cynan: y Llanc o Dref Bwllheli (1981). Darlith.
- Dafydd Owen, Cynan (1979)
- Llwyd, Alan, Out of the Fire of Hell; Welsh Experience of the Great War 1914-1918 in Prose and Verse, Gomer PressGomer PressGomer Press is a printing and publishing company based in Llandysul, west Wales. The company was first established in 1892 and is owned by the same family to this day. Jonathan Lewis, the great grandson of the company's founder, is the current managing director...
, 2008.