DAVIES
,
BEN
(
1864
-
1937
),
Independent minister, and poet
;
b. at
Dolgam
,
Cwmllynfell
,
1864
. He was educated at the village school, after which he
worked in the coal mines
from the age of 13 until he was 21. He began to
write poetry
at an early age, winning many prizes at local literary gatherings and eisteddfodau. By the time he was 13 he had mastered the art of
cynghanedd
, and when he was 21 won the
bardic chair
at
Tredegar
for his
awdl
on Virtue (
Rhinwedd
). He went to a seminary at
Llansawel, Carms.
, in
1885
, and was at
Bala Independent college
,
1886-8
. He then became
minister
of
Bwlchgwyn
and
Llandegla
,
1888-91
, and
Panteg
,
Ystalyfera
,
1891-1926
. He came into prominence as one of the ‘new school’ of poets,
1890-6
,
winning the chief prizes in the national eisteddfod
— the
crown
at
Rhyl
(but with only half the prize),
1892
,
Pontypridd
,
1893
,
Caernarvon
,
1894
, and the
chair
at
Llandudno
,
1896
. In that year, too, a volume of lyrics written by him was published under the title
Caneuon Bywyd
. He rapidly became one of the foremost preachers of his denomination, and in
1928
was
chairman
of the
Union of Welsh Independents
at
Machynlleth
, where he delivered an address on ‘
Spiritual Adventure
.’ He lectured frequently on
Welsh
literary personalities and a number of articles written by him appeared in
Y Geninen
,
Y Dysgedydd
, and other periodicals. The last years of his life, afflicted by
loss of hearing
, were spent with his children in
London
, but he continued to preach to the end. He d.
2 Jan. 1937
.
Bibliography:
-
Ffrwythau Dethol
, 1938
;
-
Hanes Eglwys Cwmllynfell
, , and
, 1935
, 147-50.
Author:
Rev. John Dyfnallt Owen, M.A., (1873-1956), Aberystwyth
