David Rees Griffiths (6 November 1882 – 17 December 1953), also known by 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 ...
of Amanwy, was a
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...
poet, and an older brother of politician
Jim Griffiths.
Griffiths was born in
Betws, Carmarthenshire, where his father was a
blacksmith. He was the fifth of ten children. He spent his working life as a
coal miner
A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...
, beginning work in 1894 at the
age of eight, after a brief education at the local
primary school.
His father's
smithy remained a gathering point for local intellectuals and political activists. On 28 January 1908 David was badly injured in a
colliery explosion, which killed one of his brothers. In 1919 he published his first volume of poetry, ''Ambell Gainc''.
The profits from the edited volume (1924) went towards helping Rev. Gomer Morgan Roberts supplement his scholarship to Fircroft Adult College near Birmingham. Griffiths edited the volume of selected works from local minors it 'easily sold a thousand copies' for a shilling each and gave the 24 year old Roberts £30 to help support him. He also wrote a weekly column in ''The Amman Valley Chronicle'' entitled ''Colofn Cymry'r Dyffryn'' (column for the Welsh speakers of the valley) using the pen name Cerddetwr (one who wanders aimlessly).
In 1910, Griffiths won his first eisteddfod chair, going on to win a further fifty in local events. In the same year, his wife Margaret died of
tuberculosis. Griffiths also had a career as a journalist, writing for the ''Amman Valley Chronicle'' and also for
BBC Radio. In 1927, he travelled to
South Africa along with his son Gwilym, who was suffering from the same disease from which Gwilym would die in 1935. In 1928, Griffiths became caretaker at the local
grammar school.
"
David"
a short film based on Griffiths' life, was made as part of the celebrations for the
Festival of Britain. Amanwy played himself. As a younger man, he was portrayed by Ieuan Davies, who would later the youngest of Griffith's two daughters, Marged Mallt. Griffiths' eldest daughter Menna Ruth would teach at the local nursery school. She died in 2013.
Works
*''Ambell Gainc'' (1919)
*''0 Lwch y Lofa'' (ed.) (1924)
*''Caneuon Amanwy'' (1956)
References
Sources
Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, David Rees
1882 births
1953 deaths
Welsh-language poets
20th-century Welsh poets