ROWLANDS
,
ROBERT JOHN
(‘
Meuryn
’;
1880
-
1967
),
journalist, writer, poet, lecturer, preacher
;
b. at
Tŷ'n Derw
, a smallholding at
Aber
near
Bangor, Caerns.
,
May 22, 1880
, son of
William
and
Mary
Rowlands
. When he was three years of age he met with an accident; he dislocated his thigh and as a consequence of unsatisfactory treatment he was
lame
for the rest of his life. His father died when he was six years old. He was educated at
Aber National school
at a time when the ‘
Welsh Not
’ was in force. Following a brief period as a
shop assistant
in
Llanfairfechan
he moved to
Isaac
Foulk
's (
DWB
, 267)
printing and publishing office in
Liverpool
; for a short time he also
sold insurance policies
in
Porthmadog
where he was a close friend of
‘
Eifion Wyn
’ (
Eliseus
Williams
,
DWB
, 1036)
. Whilst in
Liverpool
he became a
correspondent
for
Y Darian
and
Yr Herald Cymraeg
and was subsequently responsible for the
Liverpool
edition of the latter. He played a prominent role in the Welsh life of
Liverpool
and was one of the founders of
Undeb y Ddraig Goch
and a
promoter of its successful
eisteddfod
. In the
1921
national
eisteddfod
in Caernarfon
he was awarded the
chair
for his ode ‘
Min y Môr
’, and in Nov. of that year he moved to
Caernarfon
as
editor
of
Yr Herald Cymraeg
and
Papur Pawb
.
April 1937
saw the amalgamation of
Yr Herald
and
Y Genedl Gymreig
which were housed in adjacent premises. They became one paper in combination with
Papur Pawb
,
Y Werin a'r Eco
under the editorship of
Meuryn
until his retirement in
March 1954
. In
1923
he also followed ‘
Eifionydd
’ (
John
Thomas
,
DWB
, 954)
as
editor
of
Y Geninen
, continuing in that role until the periodical ceased publication in
1928
. Following its revival in
1950
Meuryn
became
co-editor
with
S.B.
Jones
(
1894
-
1964
;
see
JONES
(Family) above)
until his death
2 Nov. 1967
. At the time of his death he was a widower; he left 2 sons and 3 daughters. He was buried in
Caernarfon
cemetery.
He was a man of wide interests — a
naturalist
with a particular
enthusiasm for medicinal herbs
, a
photographer
, a
chess player
and in his youth, a
billiards player
. On Sundays he
preached
in
Welsh Methodist churches
and on week-nights he was a
W.E.A. lecturer
. He was the
author
of numerous books varying in content from adventure stories to poems and plays. (For a list of his works see
David
Jenkins
,
Y Genhinen
,
Winter 1967-68
, the memorial issue to
Meuryn
.) Both as a
journalist
and an individual he was at all times a man of strong views and one who had a very great interest in writ
ing correct and polished
Welsh
; he would drum the linguistic rules into his correspondents. For years he
ran evening classes on Welsh prosody
and when
Dr.
Sam
Jones
first presented
Ymryson y Beirdd
on the radio from
Bangor
Meuryn
was one of the
adjudicators
and later the only
adjudicator
. His bardic name has been incorporated into
Welsh
as a new word,
meuryn
denoting the
adjudicator in poetic contests
. After retiring from the
Herald Office
, he
assisted young poets
through his poetry column,
Cerdd Dafod
, in
Y Cymro
.
Bibliography:
- Personal information;
-
[
Mairwen and Gwynn Jones
,
Dewiniaid Difyr llenorion plant Cymru hyd
tua 1950
, Llandysul, 1983
(1983)
;
-
Yr Herald Cymraeg (a'r Genedl)
,
6 Nov., 20 Nov. 1967
].
Author:
John Roberts Williams, Caernarfon / Llan-rug
