Welsh-language literature

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Welsh-language literature (Welsh: Llenyddiaeth Gymraeg) has been produced continuously since the emergence of Welsh from Brythonic as a distinct language in around the 5th century AD.[1] The earliest Welsh literature was poetry, which was extremely intricate in form from its earliest known examples, a tradition sustained today. Poetry was followed by the first British prose literature in the 11th century (such as that contained in the Mabinogion). Welsh-language literature has repeatedly played a major part in the self-assertion of Wales and its people. It continues to be held in the highest regard, as evidenced by the size and enthusiasm of the audiences attending the annual National Eisteddfod of Wales (Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru), probably the largest amateur arts festival in Europe,[2] which crowns the literary prize winners in a dignified ceremony.

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## Middle Ages

[edit]

Main article: Medieval Welsh literature

The mediaeval period had three chronological stages of poetry: The earliest poets (Cynfeirdd),[3] Poets of the Princes, and the Poets of Nobility.[4] Additionally, storytelling practices were continuous throughout the Middle Ages in Wales.

### Early poets (Cynfeirdd), c. 550 – 1100

[edit]

The earliest extant poets wrote praise poems for rulers and lords of Welsh dynasties from Strathclyde to Cornwall.[5]

The Cynfeirdd is a modern term which is used to refer to the earliest poets that wrote in Welsh and Welsh poetry dating before 1100. These poets (beirdd) existed in the modern geographical definition of Wales in addition to the Old North (Yr Hen Ogledd) and the language of the time was a common root called Brittonic, a precursor to the Welsh language.[6] The bards Taliesin and Aneirin are among nine poets mentioned in the medieval book Historia Brittonum. There is also anonymous poetry that survives from the period. The dominant themes or "modes" of the period are heroic elegies that celebrate and commemorate heroes of battle and military success.[7]

The beirdd (bards) were also mentioned in Hywel Dda's Welsh law.[8]

### Poets of the Princes (Beirdd y Tywysogion), c. 1100 – 1300

[edit]

In the 11th century, Norman influence and challenge disrupted Welsh cultures, and the language developed into Middle Welsh.[9]

The next period is the Poets of the Princes, which is the period from c. 1100 until the conquest of Wales by King Edward of England in 1282–83.[4]

The poets of the princess is heavily associated with the princes of Gwynedd including Gruffudd ap Cynan, Llywelyn the Great and Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. Tradition states that Gruffydd ap Cynan helped to develop the tradition and regulation of poetry and music in Wales. The Arglwydd Rhys ap Gruffydd (Lord Rhys) is also associated with this development in Cardigan, Ceredigion and one chronicler describes how an assembly where musicians and bards competed for chairs.[10]

The society of the court poets came to a sudden end in 1282 following the killing of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last of native Welsh princes. Llywelyn was slain in an ambush and his head was placed on the Tower of London "with an iron pole through it". The poets of the princes describe the grief surrounding his death, for example Gruffydd ap yr Ynad Goch (translated from Welsh), "Cold is the heart under my breast for terror and sadness for the King," and he goes on: "Woe is me for my lord, a hero without reproach,/ Woe is me for the adversity, that he should have stumbled .... Mine it is to praise him, without break, with- out end,/ Mine it is to think of him for a long time,/ Mine it is to live out my lifetime sad because of him,/For mine is sorrow, mine is weeping."[11]

### Poets of Nobility (Beirdd yr Uchelwyr), c. 1300 – 1500

[edit]

The next stage was the Poets of the Nobility which includes poetry of the period between the Edwardian Conquest of 1282/3 and the death of Tudur Aled in 1526.[4]

The highest levels of the poetic art in Welsh are intensely intricate. The bards were extremely organised and professional, with a structured training which lasted many years. As a class, they proved very adaptable: when the princely dynasties ended in 1282, and Welsh principalities were annexed by England, they found necessary patronage with the next social level, the uchelwyr, or landed gentry. The shift led creatively to innovation – the development of the cywydd metre, with looser forms of structure.[12]

The professionalism of the poetic tradition was sustained by a guild of poets, or Order of bards, with its own "rule book". This "rule book" emphasised their professional status, and the making of poetry as a craft. An apprenticeship of nine years was required for a poet to be fully qualified. The rules also set out the payment a poet could expect for his work – these payments varied according to how long a poet had been in training and also the demand for poetry at particular times during the year.[13]

### Storytellers (Cyfarwyddiaid)

[edit]

There were also cyfarwyddiaid (sing. cyfarwydd), storytellers. These were also professional, paid artists; but, unlike the poets, they seem to have remained anonymous. It is not clear whether these storytellers were a wholly separate, popular level class, or whether some of the bards practised storytelling as part of their repertoire. Little of this prose work has survived, but even so it provides the earliest British prose literature. These native Welsh tales and some hybrids with French/Norman influence form a collection known in modern times as the Mabinogion.[14] The name became established in the 19th century but is based on a linguistic mistake (a more correct term is Mabinogi).[15]

Welsh literature in the Middle Ages also included a substantial body of laws, genealogies, religious and mythical texts, histories, medical and gnomic lore, and practical works, in addition to literature translated from other languages such as Latin, Breton or French. Besides prose and longer poetry, the literature includes the distinctive Trioedd, Welsh Triads, short lists usually of three items, apparently used as aids to memory.[16]

## 16th and 17th centuries

[edit]

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The 16th and 17th centuries in Wales, as in the rest of Europe, were a period of great change. Politically, socially, and economically the foundations of modern Wales were laid at this time. In the Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542 Wales was annexed and integrated fully into the English kingdom, losing any vestiges of political or legal independence.[17]

### End of the guild of poets

[edit]

From the middle of the 16th century onwards, a decline is seen in the praise tradition of the poets of the nobility, the cywyddwyr. It became more and more difficult for poets to make their living — primarily for social reasons beyond their control.

The Dissolution of the Monasteries, which had become important sources of patronage for the poets, and the anglicisation of the nobility during the Tudor period, exemplified by the Laws in Wales Acts, meant that there were fewer and fewer patrons willing or able to support the poets. But there were also internal reasons for the decline: the conservatism of the Guild of poets, or Order of bards, made it very difficult for it to adapt to the new world of Renaissance learning and the growth of printing.

However, the Welsh poetic tradition with its traditional metres and cynghanedd (patterns of alliteration) did not disappear, but came into the hands of ordinary poets who kept it alive through the centuries.[18] Cynghanedd and traditional metres are still used today by many Welsh-language poets.[19]

### Renaissance learning

[edit]

By 1571 Jesus College, Oxford, was founded to provide an academic education for Welshmen, and the commitment of certain individuals, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, ensured that the Welsh language would be part of the new Renaissance in learning.[20]

#### First printed Welsh book

[edit]

In 1546 the first book to be printed in Welsh was published, Yny lhyvyr hwnn ("In this book") by Sir John Price of Brecon. John Price (c. 1502–55) was an aristocrat and an important civil servant. He served as Secretary of the Council of Wales and the Marches and he was also one of the officers responsible for administration of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the area. He was also a scholar who embraced the latest ideas relating to religion and learning: reform and humanism. It is also known that he was a collector of manuscripts on various subjects, including the history and literature of Wales.[21]

#### Other humanists and scholars

[edit]

Shortly afterwards the works of William Salesbury began to appear. Salesbury was an ardent Protestant and coupled his learning with the new religious ideas from the Continent; he translated the New Testament into Welsh and compiled an English-Welsh dictionary, among other works. On the other hand, Gruffudd Robert was an ardent Catholic, but in the same spirit of learning published an important Welsh grammar while in enforced exile in Milan in 1567. A huge step forward for both the Welsh language and its literature was the publication, in 1588, of a full-scale translation of the Bible by William Morgan.

### Other works

[edit]

Most of the works published in the Welsh language for at least the next century were religious in nature. Morgan Llwyd, a Puritan, wrote in both English and Welsh, recounting his spiritual experiences. Other notable writers of the period included Vavasor Powell.

During this period, poetry also began to take a religious turn. William Pugh was a Royalist and a Catholic. By now, women as well as men were writing, but little of their work can be identified. Katherine Philips of Cardigan Priory, although English by birth, lived in Wales for most of her life, and was at the centre of a literary coterie comprising both sexes.

### The Anterliwt

[edit]

The first definitive evidence for the performance of an Anterliwt can be dated to 1654,[22] though the appearance of the word in a dictionary in the sixteenth century suggests the origins of the form are much older.[23] Associated primarily with North-East Wales, these were folk stage works, typically in verse, derived from the Morality play but with a greater emphasis on secular elements as well as on bawdiness, innuendo, slapstick and satire (the name anterliwt is derived from the English "interlude", referring to lighter passages in a biblical Morality play). They would be performed at fairs and other public occasions, such as a Gŵyl Mabsant. The earliest surviving Anterliwt is entitled Y Rhyfel Cartrefol ("The Civil War") and appears to have been written in 1660 to commemorate the Restoration; it satirises the Commonwealth of England and is likely the work of Huw Morus (1622–1709).[22] Anterliwtiau typically contained stock characters such as the Fool and the Miser alongside a story with a historical, biblical or mythological basis.[24] Due to their bawdy elements performances of Anterliwtiau were condemned by the more socially conservative elements of Welsh society, and performances were banned during the Commonwealth: the earliest known reference to the performance of an Anterliwt is in the record of a trial in 1654 when a nobleman was accused of having one performed in private.[22] While the Anterliwt was clearly a common fixture in Welsh life during the seventeenth century, comparatively few examples of the genre survive from this early, and it was not until the eighteenth century that the form would reach its apogee.[23]

### Beginnings of Welsh writing in English

[edit]

The seeds of Anglo-Welsh literature can also be detected, particularly in the work of Henry Vaughan and his contemporary, George Herbert, both Royalists.[25]

## 18th century

[edit]

Though individual members of the Welsh gentry continued to patronise bards following the Act of Union 1536, this practice had been slowly dying out over the course of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as the Welsh aristocracy became increasingly anglicised,[26] and by the first decades of the 18th century the old noble patronage networks which had sustained the bardic tradition of previous centuries had almost disappeared. It has been suggested that Owen Gruffydd (1643–1730) may have been the last travelling poet in the traditional Welsh mould, though he was a weaver whose poetry supplemented his income rather than a full-time professional poet.[27] The new century saw its replacement in the emergence of two significant cultural trends in Welsh life which, though they would not come to a full flowering until the 19th century, would eventually between them come to provide a new cultural and conceptual frameworks for Welsh culture, and reinvigorate Welsh-language literature in different ways. The first of these was the activity of the London Welsh societies – the Cymmrodorion and the Gwyneddigion – initially associated with the circle of brothers Lewis (1701–1767) and Richard Morris (1703–1779), and later of Iolo Morgannwg (1747–1826). These bourgeois societies functioned to rediscover, safeguard and develop practices and traditions, particularly formal poetical traditions. This activity, related to the Celtic revival, included publication of the poetry of previous eras, the fostering of a new neoclassical poetical renaissance (exemplified by Goronwy Owen (1723–1769) and others) and, by the end of the century, the establishment of the modern Eisteddfod. The London societies were also a means through which the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment could impact on, and find expression in, Welsh literature.

The second trend, contemporaneous but largely independent of the London societies, was the Welsh Methodist revival and the gradual emergence of Nonconformism as the dominant religious force in Wales. Diverging from English Wesleyan Methodism comparatively early in its development, the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church, initially led by preachers such as Howell Harris and Daniel Rowland, would later come to be the largest of the nonconformist denominations in Wales, and both nonconformism generally and Methodism specifically would come to increasingly dominate Welsh cultural life, including its literature.

### Early 18th-century prose works

[edit]

Gweledigaetheu y Bardd Cwsc by Ellis Wynne

While prose remained a comparatively small part of the total output of Welsh-language literature in the eighteenth century, the century saw the publication of a number of canonical prose works which would have a lasting influence on the Welsh literary tradition. The first of these, Gweledigaetheu y Bardd Cwsc ('Visions of the Sleeping Bard') by Ellis Wynne (1671–1734), dates to the opening years of the century, having first been published in London in 1703. Though a partial adaptation of Sir Roger L'Estrange's translation of the Spanish satirist Francisco de Quevedo's Los Sueños ('The Visions'; 1627), it is not a direct translation and Wynne thoroughly reworked the source material, creating a work "thoroughly Welsh in nature as well as language".[28] A clergyman and Oxford graduate, Wynne's work is a religious allegory that gives savage pictures of contemporary evils[29] as well as of Hell.[28] At least 32 editions had appeared up to 1932, and at least three translations into English were made.[30] The title page bears the words Y Rhann Gyntaf ('The First Part') and it has been suggested that Wynne wrote a second part, but if it was ever completed it has not survived. Wynne's reputation rests entirely on Gweledigaetheu y Bardd Cwsc, yet he has been described as "the most famous Welsh prose writer of the period between the Middle Ages and Daniel Owen".[31]

Another clergyman, Theophilus Evans (1693–1767), was the author of Drych y Prif Oesoedd ('A Mirror to the Main Ages'; originally published in 1716 but heavily expanded and revised in 1740).[32] This important prose work purported to be a history of the Welsh people, though as it drew heavily on sources such as Geoffrey of Monmouth it is a work of historiography or historical fiction rather than of genuine historical research. The book portrays historical events in a narrative style, often with imagined dialogue between historical characters, and many individual passages anticipate the later development of the Welsh-language novel.[32] It would go through several editions over the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, playing a significant part in the preservation of myths and traditions relating to Welsh identity.[32]

### Literature of the Methodist Revival

[edit]

See also: Welsh Methodist revival and William Williams Pantycelyn

William Williams Pantycelyn (1717–1791), the central figure of the Methodist Revival in Welsh literature

Both Ellis Wynne and Theophilus Evans had been clergy in the established Church of England, and while the majority of the population were members of the established church the religious character of Wales would change markedly over the next century and a half as a result of the Welsh Methodist revival. The relationship between the Methodists and the Welsh language was in part a question of practicality – Welsh was the only language of the majority of the population in the eighteenth century,[33] a fact any mass religious movement would have needed to reflect – but also reflected its native origins and genuine grassroots support. An immediate need was identified for literary texts to explore and spread the new faith among both the educated but also the common people. Hymns were a practical and popular form of creative expression and hymn-writers such as Dafydd Jones (1717–1777), Dafydd William (c. 1720–1794) and, by the end of the century, Ann Griffiths (1776–1805; see below), but the most important poet of the Revival was William Williams Pantycelyn (1717–1791), who would become one of the most important Welsh literary figures of the eighteenth and indeed of any century.[34]

Williams had joined the Methodist movement during its early years while training to be a curate (when it was still a movement within the established church) and became one of the leaders of the movement in Wales himself.[35] He was copiously prolific in various literary fields, producing two epic poems – Golwg ar Deyrnas Crist ('A View upon Christ's Kingdom'; 1756) and Bywyd a Marwolaeth Theomemphus ('The Life and Death of Theomemphus'; 1764) – and a large number of poetic elegies and prose works, but he is particularly noted as Wales's chief writer of hymns,[35] a tradition of which he can justifiably be considered the founding figure. He remains a major figure in the Welsh literary canon even to figures unsympathetic to his religious perspective, such as Saunders Lewis.[36] Pantycelyn's work exemplified the Revival in two respects: the first is that effectively all of it is religious, serving to celebrate Christianity and promote the teachings of Methodism alongside any literary functions, and the second is that it owed little to nothing to the pre-existing literary tradition in Welsh.[37] Indeed, some have suggested that the Methodists were indifferent or even actively hostile to some forms of secular literature and culture, particularly folk culture and the anterliwt, which they perceived as corrupting influences (see below).[38]

The Methodists were also active in prose-writing with Pantycelyn once more to the fore, producing a number of prose works in the later part of his career.[35] As with all Pantycelyn's work his prose is religiously themed, and while many of these works can be characterised more as didactic tracts or practical advice for living a Christian life rather than genuine literary works, others, such as Tri Wŷr o Sodom a'r Aifft ('Three Men of Sodom and Egypt'; 1768) are religious allegories, using fiction to explore Christian morality. Though they have this in common with Gweledigaetheu y Bardd Cwsc, as with Pantycelyn's poetry he did not draw on the existing Welsh tradition and a more likely influence is John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, which had appeared in Welsh translation as early as 1688 under the title Taith y Pererin and was one of the most popular and influential books of the period in Welsh.[22]

### The London Welsh societies and their circles

[edit]

#### The Cymmrodorion

[edit]

Main article: Cymmrodorion

Lewis Morris (1701–1765), poet and founder of the Cymmrodorion.

Ever since the Glyndŵr rebellion and particularly from the Tudor period onwards, London had been a focal point for the Welsh diaspora and by the eighteenth century this was manifested in the establishment of London-based societies which served a social function but were also a means to promote Welsh culture and literature. These helped fill the void left by the disappearance of the traditional model of noble patronage, as well as maintaining for Wales some kind of profile within the wider British intellectual millieu.[39] One early such society was the Honourable and Loyal Society of Antient Britons (1715), but more important was the Cymmrodorion founded by the Anglesey brothers Lewis (1701–1767), Richard (1703–1779) and William Morris (1705–1763). Lewis, the eldest and most prominent of the brothers, was an important poet in his own right, but perhaps the Morrises' main legacy was as antiquarians and manuscript collectors, and as enablers and champions of other poets. By the middle of the century Lewis Morris was recognised as the highest authority in the world on the Welsh language.[40]

Depiction from 1902 of Goronwy Owen (1723–1769)

The Morris brothers championed poetry, especially strict-metre poetry in cynghanedd,[40] and the support and opportunities they provided to poets either directly or via the Cymmrodorion was a key contribution to the careers of significant figures such as Huw Jones o Langwm (c. 1700–1782), a popular and prolific balladeer and composer of anterliwtiau (see below); Goronwy Owen (1723–1769); and Ieuan Fardd (1731–1788). Ieuan Fardd was an influential strict-metre poet but also an important scholar who published Some Specimens of the Poetry of the Antient Welsh Bards (1764), which contained the first ever publication of Y Gododdin, perhaps intended to capitalise on the popularity of the Ossian forgeries. Of the names associated with the Cymmrodorion, Goronwy Owen was perhaps the greatest poet in his own right. A curate and a classicist, almost all his poetry was in cynghanedd and most discusses religious themes. He was a major influence on the poets of the following century,[41] who would later attempt to realise Owen's great ambition (which he never realised himself) of writing an epic poem to serve as a Welsh equivalent to Paradise Lost.[41] Owen would, however, fall out with Lewis Morris,[40] and live out the last part of his life in America, never returning to Wales.[42]

#### The Gwyneddigion

[edit]

Main article: Gwyneddigion Society

Owain Myfyr (1741–1814), first president of the Gwyneddigion

While the Cymmrodorion would continue for some time after the death of Lewis Morris in 1765, it was perceived by some to be elitist, and was resented by some for its narrow conception of literature and its focus on cynghanedd.[40] This contributed to the establishment of the Gwyneddigion in 1770, with the two societies running in parallel for some time. Although the latter society's name (meaning 'Gwynedd scholars') suggests a particular link with the region of Gwynedd, its affiliations were from the start with the whole of North Wales, and later with all parts of Wales.[43][44] Foremost among the founders was the antiquarian Owain Myfyr (1741–1814), who became the society's first president.[45] Myfyr, a successful businessman, was the group's enabler, sponsoring much of their activities at considerable personal expense.[46] Other notable members included many of the key literary figures of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries: the antiquarian and lexicographer William Owen Pughe (1759–1835) and the poets Twm o'r Nant (1739–1810), Siôn Ceiriog (1747–1792), Iolo Morganwg (1747–1826), Edward Jones ("Bardd y Brenin"; 1752–1824), and Jac Glan-y-gors (1766–1821).

The influence of the Gwyneddigion on Welsh literature was not entirely positive. Later critics would particularly condemn the lasting influence of well-meaning lexicographer William Owen Pughe's fabricated neologisms,[46] as well as the forgeries of Iolo Morgannwg (see below).

#### The Eisteddfod and the Gorsedd

[edit]

Main articles: Eisteddfod and Gorsedd y Beirdd

The major collective achievement of the Gwyneddigion was the establishment of the Eisteddfod tradition in the form it exists today. While there had been documented examples of eisteddfodau being held at least as far back as 1176, little is really known about their form other than that they were public competitions between bards and musicians. Ad-hoc eisteddfodau were also known to have been held throughout the century, generally in taverns. The Gwyneddigion took these traditions and formalised them with sets of rules - competing under pseudonyms, the subjects of some competitions centrally determined and publicised in advance - which have remained a core part of Eisteddfodau ever since.[47] The first Eisteddfod organised by the Gwyneddigion in Bala in 1789 is therefore often described as the first modern Eisteddfod,[48] though it was not until much later (1860) that the National Eisteddfod, which cointinues today, was founded.

Iolo Morgannwg (1747–1826)

Perhaps the most famous name associated with the Gwyneddigion was that of the poet and mystic Iolo Morganwg (1747–1826). A fascinating and complex figure, as well as writing his own poetry he published collections of the work of earlier poets such as Dafydd ap Gwilym and established Gorsedd y Beirdd. A bardic society, Iolo claimed that Gorsedd y Beirdd was based on ancient Celtic druidic rituals; it held its first meetings in London in 1791-2.[49] By the Carmarthen Eisteddfod of 1819 Iolo had succeeded in making the Gorsedd a major part of the Eisteddfod tradition.[50] Celebrated in his lifetime and for much of the nineteenth century as a significant authority on bardic and druidic learning, by the twentieth century it became widely accepted that many of his "discoveries" were in fact inventions and forgeries, including the Gorsedd, the "bardic alphabet" Coelbren y Beirdd, and dozens of poems attributed to real historical figures such as Dafydd ap Gwilym.[51] Iolo's forgeries, occurring throughout his career, are extremely numerous and while they often work to support his literary "theories", prejudices and suppositions, they also occur in cases where there was no obvious purpose or benefit to the forgery: it has been suggested he may have been exhibiting some kind of compulsive disorder which compelled him to fabricate materials.[52] Alongside his fabrications however he also produced a good deal of genuine and often brilliant scholarship, and as an inveterate collector of old manuscripts he performed a service without which Welsh literature would have been poorer.[53] Despite its fraudulent origins the Gorsedd survives to this day and has become a tradition in its own right, as have many of the ceremonies and rituals derived from Iolo's inventions, which remain a part of the National Eisteddfod.[49]

### Folk literature

[edit]

Twm o'r Nant (1776–1810)

While the Cymmrodorion had had a definite elitist streak, being often dismissive of poetry in the free metres and other popular forms, the Gwyneddigion were more inclusive and many of their members such as Twm o'r Nant (1739–1810) and Jac Glan-y-gors (1766–1821) were active in more popular genres such as the ballad and songs.

Although the anterliwt had been a popular form in the previous century and possibly earlier (see above), the eighteenth century was the golden age of the form and the majority of the surviving examples date from this period.[23][24] Though some are anonymous, many were by known writers such as Huw Jones o Langwm (d. 1782), Elis y Cowper (d. 1789), Jonathan Hughes (1721–1805) and Twm o'r Nant (1739–1810), all of whom came from the north-east of Wales, which became the part of the country most strongly associated with the form.[24] Most of these writers were also associated with folk genres such as the ballad. Anterliwtiau by Twm o'r Nant were particularly popular, often incorporating social criticism of the ills of the day, such as greedy landowners or unpopular taxes.[54][55]

Due in part to their bawdy content, however, anterliwtiau had always been the subject of disapproval from more conservative circles, and the spread of Methodism – which was itself often the subject of the satire in anterliwtiau – meant that as the century wore on anterliwtiau become both more respectable and less popular. Even Twm o'r Nant turned away from the genre for a period, though he would return to it later.[55] While a few examples of anterliwtiau survive from the early years of the nineteenth century the genre had to all intents and purposes disappeared by the time of Twm's death in 1810.[24]

## 19th century

[edit]

Due mainly to the Industrial Revolution the 19th century was an enormously transformative period in Wales, with the population growing fivefold due to both natural growth and significant immigration, particularly into the South Wales Valleys. The majority of the newcomers were English or Irish, and though some learned Welsh and integrated into their new communities, where immigration was very significant English displaced Welsh as the community language such that, while virtually the entire population was Welsh speaking at the start of the century (with the majority monoglot), by the end of the century only about half the population could speak Welsh; it has been argued that Wales thus experienced a greater change over the course of the century than it had at any previous period in its history.[56]

Dowlais Ironworks (1840) by George Childs (1798–1875)

Despite this relative decline however, the Welsh speaking population increased significantly in absolute terms,[57] as did literacy in Welsh, the latter due not to public education (which was extremely limited and, where it existed at all, focused entirely on English) but due to the efforts of the non-conformist Sunday Schools[58] which flourished as a part of the ongoing Methodist revival which meant non-conformist denominations collectively dominated Welsh cultural life by the middle of the century.[59] This growth in led to a huge increase in demand for literature in Welsh the form of books, periodicals, newspapers, poetry, novels, ballads and sermons, all of which were provided in copious quantities in what has been described as the "Golden Age" of the Welsh-language press;[60] estimates suggest that over 10,000 books in Welsh were published over the course of the 19th century.[61][62] This represented an enormous increase in the quantity and variety of literature produced in Welsh, its nature steered by the sometimes competing values of the Eisteddfod, the nonconformist tradition, and wider developments in Western Aesthetics such as Romanticism. During this period Welsh became an international language, with newspapers and periodicals in Welsh published locally by and for the Welsh-speaking diaspora in London, Liverpool, Manchester, the United States, Argentina and Australia.

Lewis Edwards (1809–1887), a key figure in nineteenth century Wales.

The influence of the chapels, though sometimes credited with ensuring the survival of Welsh as a living language,[63][64] was not necessarily entirely positive, and some commentators have suggested that the channelling of so much energy into religion had a negative impact on literature on the whole.[38] The Treachery of the Blue Books is also cited as a factor, contributing to an obsession that literature should contribute to the reader's spiritual and/or moral wellbeing,[65][66] which might come at the expense of considerations of literary merit. Consequently, by even the early decades of the twentieth century a critical consensus had emerged that, taken together, the bulk of Welsh-language literature in the 19th century was of a poor quality.[67] This view is espoused in the work of major twentieth century critics such as W. J. Gruffydd,[68] Saunders Lewis[69] and Thomas Parry,[70] and from later critics such as Hywel Teifi Edwards.[71] Nevertheless, others such as R. M. Jones have challenged this view,[72] and even the aforementioned critics often championed individual poets and authors and held up individual works of the century as major contributions to literature in Welsh.

As in previous centuries poetry remained the focus of much creative activity in Welsh, much of it now written within the vibrant Eisteddfod tradition. However the century also saw significant creative endeavour in the field of prose, with the first novels and short stories in Welsh emerging by the middle of the century, and the first works of children's literature appearing shortly afterwards. The activity of the London societies (see above) continued apace in the first part of the century, and throughout the whole century antiquarians, historians, scholars, linguists, and lexicographers such as Iolo Morgannwg (1747–1826), William Owen Pughe (1759–1835), Carnhuanawc (1787–1848), Lewis Edwards (1809–1887), Thomas Stephens (1821–1875), John Rhŷs (1840-1915) and John Morris-Jones (1864-1929) were also active in the study and re-discovery of Wales, its language and literature, as were figures from outside Wales such as Charlotte Guest (1812–1895), Matthew Arnold[73] (1822–1888) and Ernest Renan (1823–1892).[74] Much of this scholastic activity can be viewed as a part of the wider Celtic Revival of the period. At the same time, figures like Thomas Gee (1815–1898), who published an encyclopaedia, and travel writers such as Cranogwen (1839-1916) and O. M. Edwards (1858–1920) sought to teach the Welsh about the wider world; whilst in Emrys ap Iwan (1848-1906) the language received one of its first original philosophers and political writers.

### Poetry

[edit]

#### Hymns

[edit]

Ann Griffiths (1776–1805)

Developments in Welsh poetry in the first decades of the nineteenth century were a continuation of the trends established in the eighteenth. As the Methodist Revival continued and non-conformist chapels took increasing hold of the spiritual lives of Wales's population, a strong native tradition of hymn-writing emerged, drawing on the example of Williams Pantycelyn (see above). Prominent Welsh hymn-writers of this first part of the century included David Charles (1762–1834) and Robert ap Gwilym Ddu (1766–1850), however undoubtedly the finest and most influential figure in this tradition in this period (and perhaps any) was the short-lived Ann Griffiths (1776–1805A). Although she died in comparative obscurity and her complete poetic output consists of only seventy stanzas over twenty-seven hymns, she would later become recognised as a major religious poet of almost cult-like popularity[75][76] and an important figure in Welsh nonconformism;[77] she would even become the subject of a 21st-century musical.[78] She was the first female writer in Welsh to be widely acknowledged as a part of the literary canon in Welsh, as evidenced by the fact she is the only female poet included in 1962's Oxford Book of Welsh Verse.[79]

Many hymns from this period sung in chapels and churches to this day. While the hymn in Welsh is inextricably linked with the nonconformist tradition, it was cross-denominational with hymn-writers such as Ieuan Glan Geirionydd (1795–1855) working in the Established Church.[80] He, alongside Methodists like Eben Fardd (1802–1863)[80] and Congregationalists like Gwilym Hiraethog (1802–1883) would also make significant contributions to the Welsh hymn tradition in the second quarter of the century. However, notwithstanding the contribution of later poets such as Elfed (1860–1953), in the view of R. M. Jones, there was little development in Welsh hymn-writing after the 1850s, which Jones attributed to the increasing respectability and establishment nature of nonconformity by the later part of the century.[81]

#### Eisteddfod Poetry

[edit]

Eben Fardd (Ebenezer Thomas, 1802–1863), one of the most successful poets of the early 19th century in Welsh. The three medals are for his chairs won at the Eisteddfodau held in Welshpool (1824), Liverpool (1840) and Llangollen (1858).

After the codification of the modern Eisteddfod by Iolo Morgannwg and others in the 1790s,[41] by the early 19th century Eisteddfodau were regularly being held across Wales. While these were ad-hoc festivals – the regular National Eisteddfod was not formally established until 1860 – they provided regular opportunities for poets to achieve fame in a range of competitions; and the largest of these such as the "Provincial Esiteddfodau" of 1819-1934 would have been comparable in scale to the later annual National event. The most prestigious award at each Eisteddfod was the Chair, usually awarded for an awdl in the strict metres. Poets used bardic names to disguise their identity in competitions, and often continued to use them when they became well known. With the exception of the dedicated hymn-writers, Eisteddfod success was the ambition of all the major poets of the first part of the century such as Dewi Wyn o Eifion (1784–1841), Ieuan Glan Geirionydd (1795–1855), Alun (1797–1840), Caledfryn (1801–1869), Eben Fardd (1802–1863), Gwilym Hiraethog (1802–1883) and Creuddynfab (1814–1869) among many other lesser names. While these poets often favoured the strict metres and traditional forms such as the englyn, the cywydd and the awdl, free metre forms such as hymns, telynegion (lyrics) and pryddestau were also popular. The classicism of earlier poets such as Goronwy Owen was a major influence,[41] and thanks to the work of antiquarians and grammarians like Iolo Morgannwg, Gwallter Mechain (1761–1849) and William Owen Pughe (1759–1835) they could also increasingly draw on the rich poetry and vocabulary of Wales's past. This influence was not always positive, with the work of Pughe in particular often being blamed for tortuous, unnaturalistic neologisms in the work of many poets of this period.[82] They were not immune either to influences from outside Wales: John Milton was a particular favourite,[41] and as the century wore on Romanticism increasingly became the dominant aesthetic, with poets such as Eben Fardd noted for leading the change in this regard.[83]

Ieuan Glan Geirionydd (Evan Evans, 1795–1855)

Eben Fardd ("Eben the Poet") was one of the most successful Eisteddfod competitors of his age and alongside Caledfryn made a significant impact also as an Eisteddfod adjudicator;[84] his most famous poem, Dinistr Jerusalem ("the Destruction of Jerusalem," depicting the Siege of Jerusalem) has been described as "one of the finest awdlau in Welsh"[85] and "a high point of Eisteddfod strict metre poetry";[80] his shorter poetry has also been highly praised.[80] Alongside him, perhaps the most notable poet of this generation was Ieuan Glan Geirionydd, described as "the most versatile poet of the [19th] century".[86] He was highly thought of by Saunders Lewis for poems such as Ysgoldy Rhad Llanrwst (Llanrwst's Cheap School), who saw in his work a distinctive stoicism.[87] Particularly by the end of his life he was associated with a turn away from cynghanedd towards free verse.[86] The same could be said of another influential poet, Alun,[88][89] though he was also author of a number of successful eisteddfod awdlau which have been favourably compared to those of the twentieth century.[88] Other poets however attempted to maintain a neo-classical focus on cynghanedd; Caledfryn was perhaps the most influential of these, as much through his often scathing criticism as an Eisteddfod adjudicator as through his own verse.[90]

Though the Eisteddfod had provided a major impetus for the composition of strict metre poetry and provided a path for poets to attain genuine national celebrity status, poets as far back as Goronwy Owen in the 18th century had questioned whether cynghanedd was suitable to write the kind of epic poetry written by English poets such as John Milton, which was held in high esteem at the time.[91] While neo-classicists such as Caledfryn continued to champion cynghanedd, other figures such as Gwallter Mechain went so far as to directly criticise the strict metres and he and his disciples, among them Ieuan Glan Geirionydd, set out to compose pryddestau.[86] This new form of long poem – poems of many thousands of lines were common – was effectively a free metre equivalent of the awdl in which the poet could adopt any number of free metres over an extended work. An influential early pryddest was Eben Fardd's Yr Atgyfodiad ("the Resurrection") which, though unsuccessful at the Rhuddlan Eisteddfod in 1850, proved enormously influential on subsequent works, beginning what E. G. Millward referred to as the "golden age" of the pryddest.[92] An ongoing and sometimes fierce debate in the press over the relative merits of cynghanedd and the free metres led to the eventual establishment of the National Eisteddfod's Crown, first awarded in 1880 for the best pryddest, nominally of equal prestige to the chair. The Crown is still awarded today at the National Eisteddfod, though typically for a series of shorter poems rather than a single pryddest as was originally intended.

Islwyn (1832–1878), one of the most highly regarded poets of the 19th century among 20th century critics.

Of all the streams of Welsh poetry in the nineteenth century it is perhaps the pryddest which is the most contentious. Dozens of epic pryddestau, typically on either biblical themes or depicting passages from Welsh history, were composed by poets such as Iorwerth Glan Aled (1819–1867), Llew Llwyfo (1831–1901) and Golyddan (1840–1862) in an attempt to create a Welsh equivalent to Paradise Lost.[93] None succeeded: despite its influence and popularity at the time Eben Fardd's Yr Atgyfodiad is almost unknown today and was condemned by later critics.[85][92] Thomas Parry considered all the works of the century in the form to be completely without "poetic merit";[94] and Ioan Williams singled out Gwilym Hiraethog's enormous pryddest Emmanuel, published in two volumes during the 1860s, as "probably the longest poem written in Welsh and possibly the worst written in any language."[95] Others have identified merit in individual examples, however, such as R. M. Jones who identified Iesu (Jesus) by Golyddan and particularly the second of two pryddestau titled Y Storm by Islwyn (1832–1878) as masterpieces.[96] It is perhaps significant however that the second Y Storm, which was not published in its original form until 1990, can hardly be considered representative of the 19th century pryddest nor of the Welsh epic: it is a mystic meditation on mortality rather than a narrative poem, was not composed for an Eisteddfod competition, and remained unpublished. Though comparatively obscure in his own lifetime Islwyn has since become recognised as one of the major poets of the century in the Welsh language.[97][96][98] Much of Islwyn's poetry (including Y Storm) was inspired by the early death of his fiancée in 1853 and is frequently extremely bleak in tone. His output is uneven in quality and many critics have suggested that he had produced all his significant poetry in the space of a few years in his early twenties, after which he produced little other than uninspired awdlau in a futile attempt to win the National Eisteddfod Chair.[99][100] Nevertheless, at its best, including in both versions of Y Storm, Islwyn's work shows a "complexity of imagery and intellectual ambition rare in any Welsh poetry of the period."[98] One critic went so far as to say, "If the 19th century has a great poet [in Welsh], it is Islwyn";[101] and he was perhaps the main influence on the generation of Eisteddfod poets active in the last quarter of the nineteenth century (see below).[97][102]

#### Lyric Poetry

[edit]

Talhaiarn (John Jones, 1810–1869), a key figure in Welsh Romanticism

Despite turning increasingly to cynghanedd later in his life, Islwyn's writings on poetry advocated the free metres and lyric poetry,[98] and notwithstanding the enormous efforts poets devoted to awdlau and pryddestau to compete at Eisteddfodau it is poetry in this vein which was the most popular of the period with a wider audience. Ieuan Glan Geirionydd and Alun had led the way in this regard in the earlier part of the century[88] but it reached its full flowering in the work of the poets of the middle part of the century, particularly Talhaiarn (1810–1869), Mynyddog (1833–1877) and Ceiriog (1832–1887).[103] Talhaiarn was a popular though controversial figure in his day due to his extravagant lifestyle, his willingness to argue against the Welsh orthodoxies of his time (he was an Anglican and a Tory), and his involvement in several Eisteddfod adjudication controversies.[104] He composed popular lyrics for a great number of songs by composers of the day; according to R. M. Jones much of it was "superficial and tasteless", yet in his finest poems, such as the long Tal ar Ben Bodran (Tal[haiarn] on Bodran Hill), Talhaiarn was a "unique, intelligent and experienced poet with something sobering to say about life".[105] Saunders Lewis described Talhaiarn as "the only poet of his age who understood the tragedy of the life of man".[106]

Ceiriog (1832–1887), the most popular Welsh poet of the 19th century.

As with Talhaiarn, music played a key role in the work of Mynyddog — perhaps best known now as the author of Myfanwy — and the best known of the Welsh lyric poets, Ceiriog (1832–1887), who would prove to be the most popular poet in Welsh of the 19th century: his volume Oriau'r Hwyr (The Late Hours) was outsold in the 1860s only by the Bible.[107] Ceiriog's most successful lyrics such as Nant y Mynydd (The Mountain Stream) are direct, moving and effective, often describing rural and romantic scenes. They were an inspiration for 20th-century poets like R. Williams Parry,[108] and some of Ceiriog's songs such as Ar Hyd y Nos remain familiar to many today. Ceiriog's poetry became strongly associated with a particular vision of Welshness, much in the way Robert Burns had become associated with Scotland;[109] in one novel of 1905 the mother of a young Welshman migrating from Wales to America packs him a Bible and a book of Ceiriog's poetry.[110] His work, however, is often criticised for its sentimentality[111] and his desire to appeal to "the most basic tastes, the most simple desires and the ignorance" of his audience.[105]

John Morris-Jones (1864–1929)

In the later parts of the century the lyrical tradition of Ceiriog was continued by poets like Watcyn Wyn (1844–1905) and Elfed (1860–1953), and built on by more ambitious poets such as the Oxford-educated John Morris Jones (1864–1929). Jones's main legacy would be in his capacity as a scholar and Eisteddfod adjudicator, the influence of which it is impossible to understate (see 20th century below), but in the closing decade of the 19th century he was an influential poet in his own right who imbued the lyrical tradition with an "academic confidence and authority".[112] His awdlau Cymru Fu – Cymru Fydd (Wales that was; Wales that will be) and Salm i Famon (A Psalm for Mamon) use irony to express his social criticism of philistinism and materialism and he was also a significant translator of poetry into Welsh, such as that of Heinrich Heine and Omar Khayyam. Though he wrote little poetry of his own after 1900 his influence on others would make him a major figure in the literary renaissance in Welsh poetry of the following century.[112]

#### Later Eisteddfod Poets

[edit]

It is notable that despite multiple efforts in some cases, most of the above poets including Islwyn, Ceiriog, Talhaiarn and others failed to win either of the main prizes at the Eisteddfod. Indeed, critics have been virtually unanimous in condemnation of the majority of the poets who won the crown and chair in the second half of the century.[98] Poets such as Llew Llwyfo (1831–1901; a chair and two crowns), Iolo Caernarfon (1840–1914; two crowns), Cadvan (1842–1923; three crowns), Tudno (1844–1895; four chairs, still a record), Pedrog (1853–1932; three chairs) and Job (1867–1938; three chairs and a crown) – many of whom belonged to a loose grouping sometimes referred to as "y Bardd Newydd" (the New Poet) – are almost completely forgotten today: these are in the words of Robert Rhys "the poet-preachers with their enormous compositions and prosaic styles who made ideal punch-bags for later critics."[113] Alun Llywelyn-Williams went further and said of them: "The plain truth is that the Bardd Newydd was not a poet and had no grasp of poetry."[114]

By the last years of the century, following the example of John Morris-Jones, poets who would become the significant voices of the first part of the twentieth century such as T. Gwynn Jones (1871–1948) sought to both simplify and improve the quality of Eisteddfod poetry, which they perceived had become formulaic and stilted.[115]

#### Social Radicalism in Poetry

[edit]

Cranogwen (1839–1916), one of the few prominent female poets in Welsh of the 20th century.

The world of the Eisteddfod and Welsh public life generally in the 19th century were dominated by men; however, female poets were able to break through, perhaps assisted by the Eisteddfod tradition of anonymous submission to competitions. To the name of Ann Griffiths (see above) can be added those of Jane Ellis (d.1840) and Elen Egryn (1807–1876) — both[116] of whom[117] have been claimed to be the first woman to have a book in Welsh published — as well as others such as Buddug (1842–1909). But perhaps most prominent of these female poets was Cranogwen (1839–1916), who laboured throughout a long career to further the course of Welsh women and was the major Welsh female voice of her day.[118] Victorious in an 1865 Eisteddfod competition in which she beat both Islwyn and Ceiriog with a poem on Y Fodrwy Briodas (The Wedding Ring), she would later edit Y Frythones, a literary journal aimed at women through which she would support other literary Welsh women such as Ellen Hughes (1867–1927) and Mary Oliver Jones (1858–1893).[118] Cranogwen's own work, which also encompassed travel writing, often has proto-feminist themes; it is also understood that she had relationships with women.[118]

While the work of many prominent Welsh poets of the period — including but not limited to Eben Fardd, Talhaiarn, Islwyn and Ceiriog — frequently features vague expressions of Welsh patriotism, rarely is there any real political undercurrent to these sentiments. Indeed there are many poetic expressions in Welsh of loyalty to the British state, such as Eben Fardd's awdl Brwydr Maes Bosworth (the Battle of Bosworth Field), which ends with a paean to Queen Victoria, and many poems by the avowed Tory Talhaiarn.[119] But by the later part of the century some poets were increasingly willing to use poetry to more express more radical political ideas, such as R. J. Derfel (1824–1905) whose poetry often has Welsh nationalist and explicitly socialist themes, and T. Gwynn Jones (1871–1948). T. Gwynn Jones would later become regarded as a major poet of the 20th century (see below), but already by the end of the 19th he had published a number comparatively radical poems, most notably the satirical Gwlad y Gân (The Land of Song). Influenced by thinkers like Emrys ap Iwan, Jones has been described as "the unofficial poet of the [proto-nationalist] Cymru Fydd movement".[120]

### Prose

[edit]

The vitality of the Welsh language press meant the nineteenth century was a golden era for Welsh prose in Welsh in terms of quantity, if not necessarily quality. A significant amount of the prose published in Welsh during the period served primarily religious purposes: published sermons, biblical commentaries and the biographies and autobiographies of important ministers and preachers were all popular. Some more literary works such as Y Bardd (1830) by the poet Cawrdaf (1795-1848) blended religious and literary elements in a similar way to the prose works of the eighteenth century. Although its spread was slow in the first third of the century, the publication of more secularly-oriented prose works would gather pace throughout the century and by the end of the century hundreds of novels and short stories had been published, though even works intended firstly to entertain often contained religious morals.[66]

#### Novels

[edit]

See also: Daniel Owen

Daniel Owen (1836–1895)

The first magazine serial stories in Welsh had begun appearing in periodicals by the 1820s, though translations of works such as Robinson Crusoe had appeared earlier. The novel in Welsh was somewhat slow to develop however, due in part to the continued emphasis on poetry in Welsh literary circles but also an ambivalence towards the novel on the part of the nonconformist chapels, which had solidified their dominance on Welsh language culture over the course of the century. If allegories like Y Bardd are excluded it was not until the which middle of the century that the first novels appeared in book form such as Gwilym Hiraethog's (1802–1883) Aelwyd F'Ewythr Robert (1852), which incorporates a translation of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, and Llewelyn Parri (1855) by Llew Llwyfo (1831–1901).

By the 1870s novels both original and translated were being regularly published as serials in a number of publications in the Welsh language press, and occasionally as books. Competitions for the composition of novels became an occasional feature of Eisteddfodau, though there would not be an annual competition with fixed rules until the establishment of Gwobr Goffa Daniel Owen in 1978. Prolific nineteenth century novelists in Welsh included [[Ellis Pierce]|Elis o'r Nant]] (1841–1912), Beriah Gwynfe Evans (1848–1927) and Mary Oliver Jones (1858–1893). Popular subjects for Welsh novels included temperance and social justice, but equally popular was Welsh history, particularly the Welsh princes, such as Pierce's Gruffydd ap Cynan and Evans's Bronwen, one of at least four novels written in Welsh in the nineteenth century to take as their subject Owain Glyndŵr. However the first novelist in the Welsh language to achieve genuine lasting popularity was Daniel Owen (1836–1895), author of Rhys Lewis (1885) and Enoc Huws (1891), among others.[121] A tailor from Mold, Owen's novels have been widely praised for qualities which are often deemed lacking in those of his contemporaries: accessible and natural language, especially dialogue; memorable characters; psychological insight and satirical humour. They proved phenomenally popular in his own lifetime and though sometimes criticised for a lack of structure they have remained popular ever since,[121] going through multiple reprints during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries as well as being adapted for stage and television. Owen's achievement went some way towards legitimising the Welsh-language novel and by the end of the century a new generation of novelists such as William Llewelyn Williams (1867–1922), Winnie Parry (1870–1953) and T. Gwynn Jones (1871–1949) were evidence of a well-established tradition of novel-writing in Welsh, though not until the twentieth century would any Welsh novelist match Daniel Owen's popularity with either audiences or critics.[122]

Glasynys (1828–1870)

#### Short Stories

[edit]

Short prose stories had appeared in Welsh periodicals as far back as the eighteenth century and by the end of the nineteenth they were extremely common, though it has been argued that only very few before the twentieth century can be considered examples of the literary short story, with the vast majority being examples more of folk literature or tall tales.[123] An early example are the stories of Glasynys (1828–1870) which appeared in the compendium Cymru Fu ("Wales that Was") edited by Isaac Foulkes (1836–1904). Glasynys's stories draw on extensively on Welsh folklore though they draw as much on his own invention. Novelist Daniel Owen (see above) was also the author of Straeon y Pentan ("Fireside Tales") which was the first dedicated collection of Welsh short stories to be published in book form.[124] The stories in the collection, which Owen claimed to be "true every word," appear to be at least partly based on material Owen collected local oral tradition.[124]

Eluned Morgan (1870–1938)

#### Essays & other forms

[edit]

Thanks to the explosion in readership and publications Welsh readers could draw from an enormous range of original creative writing concerning various subjects. While religious subjects remained the most prominent by some distance, particularly by the end of the century there were examples of genres like travel writing in Welsh, such as Cranogwen's (see above) account of her visits to England and the United States of America, and the descriptions of the Andes by Eluned Morgan (1870–1938), perhaps the most significant Welsh writer to emerge from the Welsh-speaking community in Patagonia. Morgan's depictions appeared in the periodical Cymru as did many poems, stories and novels by individuals mentioned above. Cymru's editor O. M. Edwards (1858–1920) was himself a major early travel writer in Welsh with books such as O'r Bala i Geneva (1899). Cymru was enormously influential in promoting Welsh literature and history broadly; Edwards personally contributed a significant number of accessible articles on Welsh history to the journal. He was a central figure in the Liberal tradition which dominated Welsh political life during the nineteenth century; however, the nineteenth century also saw the emergence of a native, nationalist political tradition, most notably in the writing of Emrys ap Iwan (1848–1906), perhaps the first original political philosopher whose primary language of expression was Welsh.

Beriah Gwynfe Evans (1848–1926), "father of the Welsh-language drama".

### Stage Works

[edit]

Although a handful of Anterliwtiau survive from the first years of the nineteenth century, and some eighteenth century Anterliwtiau such as those of Twm o'r Nant would be republished in nineteenth, the form had disappeared as a performance art and there when Welsh-language drama re-emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century it was effectively a new tradition rather than one which had continuity to the Anterliwt.[125] The Theatres Act 1843 had relaxed legal restrictions on public performance and English-language theatre consequently became established, leading to a new interest in a secular Welsh-language theatre, which led to theatrical performances becoming an occasional feature of Eisteddfodau by the last third of the century.[125] Drama remained a small part of the total literary output in Welsh however. The key practitioners in the field were poets such as R. J. Derfel (1824–1905), whose verse play Brad y Llyfrau Gleision (1854), depicting the Treachery of the Blue Books was a part of the literary response to that event; and journalist/novelist Beriah Gwynfe Evans (1848–1927), sometimes described as the "father of the Welsh-language drama".[126] His dramas, such as Owain Glyndŵr (1880) and the "drama-cantata" Llewelyn ein Llyw Olaf (1883) drew on Welsh history (as did many of Evans's novels). Llewelyn ein Llyw Olaf was written to music by composer Alaw Ddu (1838–1904), and the period saw many settings of words in Welsh to musical performances, such as the first opera in Welsh,[127] Blodwen (1878) by Joseph Parry (1841–1903), the libretto to which had been written by Mynyddog (1833–1877). These works, whether dramatic or operatic, were all written in stylised verse; by the end of the century however stage adaptations of the novels of Daniel Owen (see above) by John Morgan Edwards (1868-1924) among others pointed the way to a more naturalistic style of dramatic writing and performance.

## 20th century onwards

[edit]

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While the nineteenth century had seen an explosion in the quantity of literature composed in Welsh, the first decade of the twentieth century saw the first generation of a more professional, artistically sophisticated kind of poet. Though better known at the time as a novelist, T. Gwynn Jones won the chair at the 1902 Eisteddfod with Ymadawiad Arthur, a poem which reconciled the European romantic traditions of King Arthur with the Mabinogion. It was one of the shortest awdlau to win the chair at the time and reinvigorated the Eisteddfod tradition; Gwynn himself was one of the leading figures in a late flowering of Romanticism in Welsh poetry alongside figures such as R. Williams Parry, W. J. Gruffydd, John Morris Jones and R. Silyn Roberts (whose Trystan ac Esyllt won the Eisteddfod Crown in the same year as Gwynn won the chair). Many of these were university-educated and Gwynn and Morris-Jones in particular made major contributions in academia.

This period would prove to be short-lived, however, and the First World War – as well as literally killing one of the movement's brightest young talents in Hedd Wyn, who was killed in the Battle of Passchendaele a few short weeks before being awarded the chair at the 1917 Eisteddfod – also seemed to close the book on romanticism, with many of the movement's leading lights favouring a more modernist idiom after the war.

Though the first poets of this new modernist period, such as T. H. Parry-Williams, continued to make use of native Welsh forms and cynghanedd, they also effectively employed European forms in particular the sonnet, of which Parry-Williams was a master. Modernism was reflected in both the subject matter of Welsh poetry as well as its form: Parry-Williams' sonnet Dychwelyd ("Return") is a bleak expression of nihilism for example, and E. Prosser Rhys courted controversy for his frank (for the time) depictions of sexuality, including homosexuality, in poems such as Atgof ("Memory"), which won the crown at the 1924 Eisteddfod. Poets such as Cynan described their own experiences of the war much as English language poets had done.

Modernism caught on more slowly in prose, and the prominent early twentieth century novelists (most notably T. Gwynn Jones and Gwyneth Vaughan) in many respects continued the tradition as codified by Daniel Owen. More radical examples in the genre had begun to emerge however by the 1930s such as Saunders Lewis' Monica (1930), a novel about a woman obsessed with sexuality and which caused something of a scandal on its publication [128] and Plasau'r Brenin (1934) by Gwenallt, a semi-autobiographical novel describing the author's experiences in a prison as a conscientious objector during the war.

The most popular novelists of the first half of the century continued the realist tradition, however, such as E. Tegla Davies Kate Roberts and Elena Puw Morgan. The most successful novelist of this period was perhaps T. Rowland Hughes, who was notable for describing the culture of the slate quarrying regions of North-West Wales. His novels, such as William Jones (1942) and Chwalfa (1946) were the first to match Daniel Owen for popularity, though his novels belong stylistically to an earlier period.

As the twentieth century wore on, Welsh literature began to reflect the way the language was increasingly becoming a political symbol, with many of the leading literary figures also involved in Welsh nationalism, perhaps most notably Saunders Lewis and the writer/publisher Kate Roberts. Lewis, who had been brought up in Liverpool, was a leader of Plaid Cymru jailed for his part in protests; though a poet and a novelist as well as a significant critic and academic, his main literary legacy was in the field of drama. Novelist and short story writer Kate Roberts had been active since the 1930s, but in the late 40s and 50s produced a remarkable stream of novels and stories, often depicting the lives of working-class women and with feminist themes, that earned her the moniker "Brenhines ein llên" ("The Queen of our Literature")[129] and established her as perhaps, to this day, the single best known prose writer in Welsh.

The 1940s also saw the creation of a notable writing group in the Rhondda, called the "Cadwgan Circle". Writing almost entirely in Welsh, the movement, formed by J. Gwyn Griffiths and his wife Käthe Bosse-Griffiths, included the Welsh writers Pennar Davies, Rhydwen Williams, James Kitchener Davies and Gareth Alban Davies.

After a relatively quiet period between 1950 and 1970, large numbers of Welsh-language novels began appearing from the 1980s onwards, with such authors as Aled Islwyn [cy], Angharad Tomos and Owain Owain with his science fiction novel entitled The Last Day. In the 1990s there was a distinct trend towards postmodernism in Welsh prose writing, especially evident in the work of such authors as Wiliam Owen Roberts and Mihangel Morgan.

Meanwhile, in the 1970s Welsh poetry took on a new lease of life as poets sought to regain mastery over the traditional verse forms, partly to make a political point. Alan Llwyd and Dic Jones were leaders in the field. Female poets such as Menna Elfyn gradually began to make their voices heard, overcoming the obstacle of the male-dominated bardic circle and its conventions.

The scholar Sir Ifor Williams also pioneered scientific study of the earliest Welsh written literature, as well as the Welsh language itself, recovering the works of poets like Taliesin and Aneirin from the uncritical fancies of various antiquarians, such as the Reverend Edward Davies who believed the theme of Aneirin's Gododdin was the massacre of the Britons at Stonehenge in 472.

## See also

[edit]

* Breton literature
* Cornish literature
* Dafydd ap Gwilym
* Four Ancient Books of Wales
* Black Book of Carmarthen
* Book of Taliesin
* Book of Aneirin
* Red Book of Hergest
* Geoffrey of Monmouth
* Iolo Morganwg
* List of Welsh language authors
* List of Welsh language poets
* List of Welsh writers
* Literature in the other languages of Britain
* Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain
* Welsh-language comics
* Welsh literature in English
* Welsh mythology
* Welsh Triads

## Notes

[edit]

A.^ Although Griffiths lived most of her short life in the eighteenth century she wrote most of her poetry in the early years of the nineteenth.

## References

[edit]

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17. ^ Laws in Wales Act 1535.
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55. ^ a b Parry, Sir Thomas. "EDWARDS, THOMAS (Twm o'r Nant; 1739–1810)". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.
56. ^ Jenkins 1999, pp. 1–2.
57. ^ Jenkins 1999, p. 2: The population of the whole country in 1801 was 601,767 while the 1911 census recorded over a million able to speak Welsh, to which should be added a significant diaspora in England, the United States, Patagonia and Australia..
58. ^ Johnes 2024.
59. ^ "Religion in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (part 2)". BBC Wales. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
60. ^ G. J. Williams, Y Wasg Gymraeg Ddoe a Heddiw, Bala, 1970.
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62. ^ Hywel Teifi Edwards 'Victorian Stocktaking' in "A guide to Welsh literature 1800-1900" (2000) Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p.210.
63. ^ Davies, John (1994) A History of Wales, London: Penguin, p.500-501
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65. ^ Edwards, Hywel Teifi (1990) The Eisteddfod, Cardiff: University of Wales Press.p.23
66. ^ a b https://nation.cymru/feature/madam-wen-and-the-two-rules-of-the-welsh-novel/
67. ^ Jenkins 1999, p. 251.
68. ^ W. J. Gruffydd, 'Dewi Wyn o Eifion', Y Llenor IV (in Welsh)(1925), 9–24.
69. ^ Saunders Lewis, An Introduction to Contemporary Welsh Literature, Wrexham 1926, pp1-26.
70. ^ Thomas Parry, Hanes Llenyddiaeth Gymraeg hyd 1900 (Cardiff, 1944), p228.
71. ^ Edwards 2000.
72. ^ Jones 1988, pp. 11–29.
73. ^ Arnold, Matthew (1891) On the Study of Celtic Literature, London: Smith, Elder & Co.
74. ^ Renan, Ernest (1896) Sur la poésie des races celtiques, trans. William Hutchison as Poetry of the Celtic Races, London: Walter Scott.
75. ^ Rhys, Robert. "The Life and Hymns of Ann Griffiths" (PDF). Heath Church. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
76. ^ James, E. Wyn. "Introduction to the Life and Work of Ann Griffiths". Cardiff University.
77. ^ James, E. Wyn. "Bala and the Bible: Thomas Charles, Ann Griffiths and Mary Jones". Cardiff University.
78. ^ "Maldwyn Theatre Company – Ann!". Sain. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
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80. ^ a b c d Jenkins 1999, p. 256.
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82. ^ John Williams, Griffith (1959). "Pughe, William Owen (1759–1835)". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
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84. ^ Stephens 1986, p. 750.
85. ^ a b Gruffydd, W. J. "Eben Fardd", Y Llenor 1926 p.252
86. ^ a b c Jones, D. Gwenallt (1959). "Evans, Evan (Ieuan Glan Geirionydd) (1795–1855)". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
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88. ^ a b c Jenkins 1999, p. 257.
89. ^ Parry, Thomas (1959). "Blackwell, John (Alun) (1797–1840)". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
90. ^ Jones, Frank Price (1959). "Williams, William (Caledfryn) (1801–1869)". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
91. ^ Edwards 2016, pp. 15–16.
92. ^ a b Millward, E.G., 'Agweddau ar waith Eben Fardd', Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1980, p155.
93. ^ Milward, E. G. 1998, Yr Arwrgerdd Gymreig: Ei Thwf a'i Thranc, Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
94. ^ Parry, Thomas (ed.) 1962, The Oxford Book of Welsh Verse, Oxford: Oxford University Press. p.xvi.
95. ^ Williams, Ioan (1984) Y Nofel, Llandysul: Gomer. p.58 (in Welsh)
96. ^ a b Jones 1988, p. 11.
97. ^ a b Stephens 1999, p. 716. sfn error: no target: CITEREFStephens1999 (help)
98. ^ a b c d Jenkins 1999, p. 260.
99. ^ Gruffydd, W. J.; "Islwyn", Y Llenor II.2 Haf 1923
100. ^ Aaron, R.I.; "Islwyn", Y Llenor VIII.1 1929
101. ^ Hughes, Glyn Tegai (2003) Islwyn, University of Wales Press (Back Cover) (in Welsh)
102. ^ Hughes, Glyn Tegai (2003) Islwyn, University of Wales Press p.278 (in Welsh)
103. ^ Parry 1955, pp. 341–352.
104. ^ Stephens 1999, pp. 397. sfn error: no target: CITEREFStephens1999 (help)
105. ^ a b Jones 1988, p. 23.
106. ^ Lewis, Saunders (1981) Meistri a'u Crefft, Cardiff. p.271-2 (in Welsh).
107. ^ "Oriau'r Hwyr". National Library of Wales. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
108. ^ R. Williams Parry, 'Ceiriog – Bardd heb ei debyg', Rhyddiaith R. Williams Parry, 1974. pp.108–17
109. ^ John Ceiriog Hughes/A. P. Graves English Verse Translations of the Welsh Poems of Ceiriog Hughes, 1926;
110. ^ Richard Hughes Williams, "Myfanwy Morgan", Yr Herald Cymraeg, 13 June 1905, p.3
111. ^ Jenkins 1999, p. 259.
112. ^ a b Jenkins 1999, p. 262.
113. ^ Jenkins 1999, p. 260-62.
114. ^ Alun Llywelyn-Williams, "Y Bardd Newydd" in Dyfnallt Morgan Morgan (ed.), Gwŷr Llên y Bedwaredd Ganrif ar Bymtheg, 1968. p277.
115. ^ Llwyd, Alan, 2019. Byd Gwynn, Barddas.
116. ^ "Cerddi Jane Ellis". Gwales. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
117. ^ Egryn, Elen (1998). Telyn Egryn. Honno. ISBN 978-1-870206-30-3.
118. ^ a b c John Williams, Griffith (1959). "Rees, Sarah Jane (Cranogwen) (1839–1916)". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
119. ^ Dewi M. Lloyd, (1999) Talhaiarn, University of Wales Press. p.229
120. ^ Alan Llwyd (2019) Byd Gwynn: Cofiant T. Gwynn Jones, Cyhoeddiadau Barddas. p.80 (in Welsh)
121. ^ a b Williams 1959.
122. ^ Jenkins, Dafydd (1999). 'Y Nofel Gymraeg Gynnar' in 'Y Nofel Gymraeg ar ôl Daniel Owen' in Williams, Gerwyn (Ed.) Rhyddid y Nofel. University of Wales Press. p.34.
123. ^ Dafydd Jenkins, Y Stori Fer Gymraeg (1966)
124. ^ a b https://nation.cymru/feature/the-widow-the-dogs-the-ghosts-and-the-smoker-daniel-owens-shorter-fiction/
125. ^ a b Millward, E.G. 1991 Cenedl o Bobl Mawrion, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, p.139-40.
126. ^ "Beriah Gwynfe Evans". Porth Esboniadur. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
127. ^ "National Library of Wales – Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru '1927'". Archived from the original on 13 August 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
128. ^ "www.gwales.com – 9781848515420, Cyfres Clasuron: Monica". www.gwales.com.
129. ^ "Kate Roberts, 'Brenhines ein Llên'". Casgliad y Werin Cymru.

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