JONES
,
JOHN
(
Idris Fychan
;
1825
-
1887
),
shoemaker and harpist
;
b. at
Dolgelley
, a member of the same family as
Ellis
Roberts
(
Eos Meirion
),
harpist
to the
Prince of Wales
. His mother was considered a good
singer with the harp
. He went to
London
in
1851
but moved to
Manchester
in
1857
. Besides being considered the best
singer with the harp
in his day, he was also accounted a good
poet
. He was awarded the prize at the
Rhuddlan eisteddfod
of
1850
for an essay (in
Welsh
) on ‘
Singing with the harp
’ and at the
Chester eisteddfod
of
1866
for an essay (also in
Welsh
) on ‘
The history and antiquity of singing to the accompaniment of the harp
’; for the latter see the
Transactions of the Hon. Society of Cymmrodorion
,
1885
. He bought at a
Manchester
secondhand store in
1879
(fifty years after the death of its owner) a harp which had belonged to
Edward
Jones
(
Bardd y Brenin
, q.v.)
, which had on it a brass plate with the following inscription: ‘
Edward
Jones
Henblas
Llandderfel
1765
.’ This is now in the
National Library of Wales
. He d.
3 Nov. 1887
and was buried in
Ardwick
cemetery.
Bibliography:
-
M. O. Jones
,
Bywgraffiaeth Cerddorion Cymreig
,
National Eisteddfod Association publication, 1890
;
-
Nicholas Bennett
,
Alawon fy Ngwlad
, and
, 1896
;
-
R. Griffith
,
Llyfr Cerdd Dannau
. [1913.]
;
-
J. Lloyd Williams
,
Y tri thelynor arloeswyr cerddorol Cymru yn
y ddeunawfed ganrif
, 1945
.
Author:
Robert David Griffith, M.A., (1877-1958), Old Colwyn
