EVANS
,
ROBERT
(‘
Cybi
’;
1871
-
1956
)
poet, writer, and bookseller
;
b.
27 Nov. 1871
in
Elusendy
,
Llangybi, Caern.
, one of the seven children of
Thomas
Evans
,
farmworker
, and
Mary
(née
Roberts
)
. He was educated at the council school,
Llangybi
and after serving for a time on
Eifionydd
farms he was the local
postman
there for the greater part of his life.
William Hugh
Williams
, ‘
Cae'r go
’, was his fellow
postman
. He also
sold ‘books
of every sort, both scarce and valuable, old and new, and had a stall in the
Market Hall
at
Pwllheli
every
Wednesday. He
wrote a very considerable amount of poetry
, particularly
awdlau
,
marwnadau
and commemorative
englynion
. There is not a graveyard in
Eifionydd
that does not contain an example of his work. He published several books of his own poetry including
Odlau Eifion
(
1908
),
Awdl ‘Bwlch Aberglaslyn’
(
1910
) and
Gwaith Barddonol Cybi
(
1912
). He was a regular
competitor at local as well as provincial and national
eisteddfodau
, and he won many prizes including both
chairs
and
crowns
. His special interest lay in the
poets
of
Eifionydd
and he did useful service in publishing their works, particularly in
Lloffion yr ardd
(
1911
), the unpublished poetry of
Robert ap Gwilym Ddu
(
Robert
Williams
,
1766
-
1850
;
DWB
, 1067)
, and
Beirdd Gwerin Eifionydd
(
1914
), a selection of the poems of local
poets
from the end of the 17th century onwards. He was also a
local historian
, publishing
Ardal y cewri
(
1907
) dealing with the
Llangybi
district, and several other books on local characters. He lived at
Bryn Eithin
,
Llangybi
and d.
16 Oct. 1956
. He was buried in the graveyard at
Capel Helyg
,
Llangybi
.
Bibliography:
-
Information from
Emrys Jones
, Cricieth and personal knowledge.
Author:
Colin Alistair Gresham (1913-89), Cricieth
