Edward Jones Stephen often known 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 Tanymarian, was a Welsh

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...

 musician, singer and composer, mainly of hymns and songs.

He was born in Maentwrog

Maentwrog

Maentwrog is a village and community in the Welsh county of Gwynedd, lying in the Vale of Ffestiniog, within the Snowdonia National Park. The River Dwyryd runs alongside the village...

, Merionethshire

Merionethshire

Merionethshire is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, a vice county and a former administrative county.The administrative county of Merioneth, created under the Local Government Act 1888, was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972 on April 1, 1974...

, into a musical family. He went to school at Penralltgoch and was then apprenticed to his brother, William. He began preaching and in 1843 he went to the Congregational college at Bala

Bala, 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 as a minister. While there he changed his name to Edward Stephen to avoid confusion with another Edward Jones. In 1847 he became a minister at Dwygyfylchi in Caernarfonshire

Caernarfonshire

Caernarfonshire , historically spelled as Caernarvonshire or Carnarvonshire in English during its existence, was one of the thirteen historic counties, a vice-county and a former administrative county of Wales....

 and in 1852 he composed an oratorio entitled Ystorm Tiberias. In 1856 he moved to another chapel at Llanllechid, and two years later he composed a requiem in memory of John Jones, Talysarn. He composed many hymns and also wrote books and articles about music, in the Welsh language

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...

.