Brinley Richards (13 April 1904 – 18 September 1981) was a

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...

poet and author, who was Archdruid of the

National Eisteddfod of Wales The National Eisteddfod of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Eur ...

from 1972 to 1975.Biography at National Library of Wales
''(in Welsh)'' Richards was born in Cwm Llynfi,

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

in South

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, and was named after the musician and composer

Henry Brinley Richards Henry Brinley Richards (13 November 1817 – 1 May 1885) was a Welsh composer, who also published some works under the pseudonym 'Carl Luini'. Richards was born in Hall Street, Carmarthen, his father being organist at St Peter's Church in the ...

(1819–1885). He attended Maesteg Grammar School and spent a year at

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

. He lived on Church Street in Maesteg, a few doors above Bethel English Baptist Chapel, and had a legal practice there for most of his later years. At the Llanrwst Eisteddfod of 1951, he won the chair, qualifying him to become Archdruid in due course. His

bardic name A bardic name (, ) is a pseudonym used in Wales, Cornwall, or Brittany by poets and other artists, especially those involved in the eisteddfod movement. The Welsh term bardd ("poet") originally referred to the Welsh poets of the Middle Ages, who m ...

as Archdruid was Brinli. His collected poems, ''Cerddi'r Dyffryn'', were published in 1967. He is buried along with his wife Muriel in St Cynwyds church in Llangynwyd.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Brinley 1904 births 1981 deaths Chaired bards Welsh-language writers 20th-century Welsh writers Welsh Eisteddfod archdruids Welsh Eisteddfod winners 20th-century Welsh poets