Ben Davies (poet)
   HOME
*





Ben Davies (poet)
Ben Davies (1864 - 1937) was a 19th-century Welsh poet, and an Independent minister. He grew up in Dolgam, a farm where he received some early education at the local school. At the age of 13 however he entered employment as a miner in a local coal mine. He began writing poetry at quite a young age, and was awarded prizes at various local literary competitions and Eisteddfodau. At 21 he won the bardic chair at the Tredegar Eisteddfod for his awdl on "Virtue" (Rhinwedd). He was also competent at the art of composing cynghanedd. From 1886-8 he studied at Bala Independent College, before becoming minister of Bwlchgwyn and Llandegla (1888–91), and then Pant Teg, Ystalyfera (1891-1926). One of his congregation at Ystalyfera was Mary Jane Evans, of whom he later edited a memoir. He continued his Eisteddfod successes, often winning the chief prizes. In 1896 he published a volume of lyrics, 'Caneuon Bywyd'. He also frequently gave lectures on Welsh literary personalities. He spent h ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Tredegar
Tredegar (pronounced , ) is a town and community situated on the banks of the Sirhowy River in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, in the southeast of Wales. Within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it became an early centre of the Industrial Revolution in Wales. The relevant wards (Tredegar Central and West, Sirhowy and Georgetown) collectively listed the town's population as 15,103 in the UK 2011 census. History Origin of the name The original Tredegar is in Coedcernyw by Newport, and is nowadays more usually known in English as (in order to avoid confusion) Tredegar House (or Tredegar Park). Older forms of the name show it to be Tredegyr (this form is found in 1550) (by the modern Welsh period generally this final "y" would have become "e". In south-eastern Welsh, or Gwentian, which is the variety of Welsh spoken historically in Tredegar, this would have in turn become "a", as with Gwentian "Merchar" (Wednesday), standard Welsh "Mercher", from older Welsh "Merchyr ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Cynghanedd
In Welsh-language poetry, ''cynghanedd'' (, literally "harmony") is the basic concept of sound-arrangement within one line, using stress, alliteration and rhyme. The various forms of ''cynghanedd'' show up in the definitions of all formal Welsh verse forms, such as the ''awdl'' and ''cerdd dafod''. Though of ancient origin, ''cynghanedd'' and variations of it are still used today by many Welsh-language poets. A number of poets have experimented with using ''cynghanedd'' in English-language verse, for instance Gerard Manley Hopkins. Some of Dylan Thomas's work is also influenced by ''cynghanedd''. Forms of ''cynghanedd'' Note that ⟨dd⟩, ⟨ll⟩ and ⟨ch⟩ are digraphs in the Welsh alphabet, each representing a single consonant /ð/, /ɬ/ and /χ/ respectively. ''Cynghanedd groes'' ("cross-harmony") All consonants surrounding the main stressed vowel before the caesura must be repeated after it in the same order. However, the final consonants of the final words of each ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Bala, Gwynedd
Bala ( cy, Y Bala) is a town and community in Gwynedd, Wales. Formerly an urban district, Bala lies in the historic county of Merionethshire, at the north end of Bala Lake ( cy, Llyn Tegid). According to the 2021 Census, Bala had a population of 1,999. 72.5 per cent of the population can speak Welsh. Toponym The Welsh word ''bala'' refers to the outflow of a lake. History The Tower of Bala ''(Welsh: Tomen y Bala)'' ( high by diameter) is a tumulus or "moat-hill", formerly thought to mark the site of a Roman camp. In the 18th century, the town was well known for the manufacture of flannel, stockings, gloves and hosiery. The large stone-built theological college, ''Coleg y Bala'', of the Calvinistic Methodists and the grammar school (now Ysgol y Berwyn), which was founded in 1712, are the chief features, together with the statue of the Rev. Thomas Charles (1755–1814), the theological writer, to whom was largely due the foundation of the British and Foreign Bible Socie ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Bwlchgwyn
Bwlchgwyn is a village in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, on the A525 road, west of the city of Wrexham and south-east of the town of Ruthin. Bwlchgwyn is part of the community of Brymbo. In the 2011 Census the population of the village was 855. Etymology The placename ''Bwlchgwyn'' has in the past been translated into English as "White Pass", perhaps referring to the white limestone cliffs in the area. These limestone outcrops were more prominent, in the north of the village on the high ground of Fronheulog and over to Gwynfryn, before the days of quarrying. It has also been suggested that the original name was ''Bwlchgwynt''; gwynt meaning wind. The translation "pass", however, does not entirely fit with the Welsh word ''bwlch'' in its usual usage in placenames across Wales. Meaning hollow, dip, gap, aperture or notch, when ''bwlch'' is used elsewhere in Wales, it is used as a prefix in a word describing a steep ravine. Other examples are Bwlch-y-Saethau, Bwlch Tryfan, Bwlch ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Mary Jane Evans
Mary Jane Evans (3 February 1888 – 25 February 1922) was a Welsh teacher, preacher and actress, best known for her solo recitations and dramatic monologues. Biography She was born Mary Jane Francis at Godre'r Graig. Her mother was Mary Ann Francis (née Hutchings) and her father, Charles Francis, was the conductor of Ystalyfera's town band. As a girl, she won many competitions for recitation at local eisteddfodau, sometimes using the pseudonym "Llaethferch" ("milkmaid") because she delivered milk in her home district. She was sent to a private college in Carmarthen, run by Joseph Harry. After school she did some teaching, and was sent for a time to the Royal Academy of Music in order to improve her command of the English language, which was little used in her day-to-day life in Wales. She married a musician, William David Evans, in 1919, and they made their home at Maerdy in the Rhondda valley. Later in life she became an adjudicator at the National Eisteddfod. Her hectic sc ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as '' Londinium'' and retains its medieval boundaries.See also: Independent city § National capitals The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which largely comprises Greater London, governed by the Greater London Authority.The Greater London Authority consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The London Mayor is distinguished fr ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Welsh Poets
Welsh poetry refers to poetry of the Welsh people or nation. This includes poetry written in Welsh, poetry written in English by Welsh or Wales based poets, poetry written in Wales in other languages or poetry by Welsh poets around the world. History Wales has one of the earliest literary traditions in Northern Europe, stretching back to the days of Aneirin ( fl. 550) and Taliesin (second half of the 6th century), and the haunting ''Stafell Cynddylan'', which is the oldest recorded literary work by a woman in northern Europe. The 9th century ''Canu Llywarch Hen'' and ''Canu Heledd'' are both associated with the earlier prince Llywarch Hen. Welsh poetry is connected directly to the bardic tradition, and is historically divided into four periods.Loesch, K. T. (1983). Welsh bardic poetry and performance in the middle ages. In D. W. Thompson (Ed.), ''Performance of Literature in Historical Perspectives'' (177–190). Lanham, MD: University Press of America. The first period, befo ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

19th-century Welsh Clergy
The 19th (nineteenth) century began on 1 January 1801 ( MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 ( MCM). The 19th century was the ninth century of the 2nd millennium. The 19th century was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was abolished in much of Europe and the Americas. The First Industrial Revolution, though it began in the late 18th century, expanding beyond its British homeland for the first time during this century, particularly remaking the economies and societies of the Low Countries, the Rhineland, Northern Italy, and the Northeastern United States. A few decades later, the Second Industrial Revolution led to ever more massive urbanization and much higher levels of productivity, profit, and prosperity, a pattern that continued into the 20th century. The Islamic gunpowder empires fell into decline and European imperialism brought much of South Asia, Southeast Asia, and almost all of Africa under Colonialism, colonial rule. It was also marked by the collapse o ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

1864 Births
Events January–March * January 13 – American songwriter Stephen Foster ("Oh! Susanna", "Old Folks at Home") dies aged 37 in New York City, leaving a scrap of paper reading "Dear friends and gentle hearts". His parlor song " Beautiful Dreamer" is published in March. * January 16 – Denmark rejects an Austrian-Prussian ultimatum to repeal the Danish Constitution, which says that Schleswig-Holstein is part of Denmark. * January 21 – New Zealand Wars: The Tauranga campaign begins. * February – John Wisden publishes '' The Cricketer's Almanack for the year 1864'' in England; it will go on to become the major annual cricket reference publication. * February 1 – Danish-Prussian War (Second Schleswig War): 57,000 Austrian and Prussian troops cross the Eider River into Denmark. * February 15 – Heineken brewery founded in Netherlands. * February 17 – American Civil War: The tiny Confederate hand-propelled submarine ''H. L. Hunl ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]