JAMES
,
EVAN
(
Ieuan ap Iago
;
1809
-
1878
),
author of the words of ‘Hen Wlad fy Nhadau’
, and his son
JAMES
,
JAMES
(
Iago ap Ieuan
;
1833
-
1902
), who is said to have
composed the air
.
Evan
James
was a
weaver
and
wool-merchant
who kept the
Ancient Druid Inn
at
Argoed
in the parish of
Bedwellty, Mon.
, and it was there that his son
James
was born. The family moved shortly afterwards to
Pontypridd
, where
Evan
James
had a
woollen factory
in
Mill Street
. The father had some skill in
writing Welsh
verse
; a few of his poems were printed in
Gardd Aberdar
,
1854
,
Cymru (O.M.E.)
,
1915
, and elsewhere. According to
Taliesin
James
, grandson of
Evan
James
, it was the son
James
who, in
1856
, composed the melody and the father who wrote the words. The subject is fully discussed by
Percy A.
Scholes
, in the
National Library of Wales Journal
, iii, 1-10; see also the portraits of father and son reproduced there together with facsimiles of manuscript and printed versions.
Thomas
Llewelyn
(
Llewelyn Alaw
)
, of
Aberdare
and
Mountain Ash
included the song in his collection of unpublished airs submitted for competition at the
Llangollen national eisteddfod
of
1858
— ‘
Hen Wlad fy Nhadau
’ appearing in the
‘
Llewelyn Alaw
’
MS. (now in
N.L.W.
) under the name of ‘
Glanrhondda
.’ The
adjudicator
,
John
Owen
(
Owain Alaw
)
, harmonized it and included it in the third volume of his
Gems of Welsh Melody
,
1860
. The tune became popular immediately; it was sung at the
Aberystwyth national eisteddfod
,
1865
, by
Kate
Wynne
, and at the
Chester national eisteddfod
,
1866
, by
Lewis W.
Lewis
(
Llew Llwyfo
, q.v.)
.
Evan
James
d.
30 Sept. 1878
and was buried in the graveyard attached to
Carmel Baptist chapel
,
Pontypridd
.
James
James
kept public houses
at
Walnut Tree Bridge
(below
Pontypridd
) and
Mountain Ash
; he also lived for a time with his son at the
Swan Hotel
,
Aberaman
. He d.
11 Jan. 1902
at
6 Hawthorne Terrace
,
Aberdare
, and was buried in the
Aberdare
cemetery. A memorial to father and son, the work of
Sir
William Goscombe
John
,
R.A.
, was unveiled in
Ynysangharad Park
,
Pontypridd
,
23 July 1930
.
Bibliography:
-
Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography
;
-
The National Library of Wales Journal
, iii, 1-10, and references cited therein;
- South Wales newspapers;
-
Y Cymro
,
17 July 1943
.
Author:
Watkin William Price, M.A., (1873-1967), Aberdare
[A later article in
N.L.W. Jnl.
(viii, 244-57) shows reasons for doubting the ascription of the air to
James
James
.]
