Richard Goodman Jones (born 20 January 1920) 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 peop ...

poet, better known as ''Dic''. He was a resident of

Mynytho Mynytho is a small village in the parish of Llanengan near the southern coast of the Llŷn Peninsula in northwestern Wales. It consists of a few houses and some farmland. There are also several campsites on the outskirts of the village. The popu ...

on the

Llŷn Peninsula The Llŷn Peninsula ( cy, Penrhyn Llŷn or , ) extends into the Irish Sea from North West Wales, south west of the Isle of Anglesey. It is part of the historic county of Caernarfonshire, and historic region and local authority area of Gwynedd. Mu ...

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...

His life

Richard was born to his mother Kate, and his father of his same name who died within 1 month of Richard's birth. Though Kate remarried within 9 years, Richard remained an only child, and eventually lost his stepfather in a farming accident. Richard was brought up in humble circumstances in the North Welsh village

, where he attended Foel Gron primary school. He never disassociated himself with the area. In 1952 he married Laura Ellen Jones (also of Mynytho) and fathered two children; Sian and Dafydd. He died on 4 March 2013 aged 93 leaving his wife, two children and two grandchildren by his son Dafydd, named Gwyneth Angharad and Alan Goodman.

His work

Richard explored numerous professions, from being a painter and decorator, an insurance salesman, and a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

merchant seaman to being a teacher at Pont-y-Gof primary school, in

Botwnnog Botwnnog is a village and community in Gwynedd in Wales, located on the Llŷn Peninsula west-north-west of Abersoch. It is in the historic county of Caernarfonshire. It had a population of 955 in 2001, increasing to 996 at the 2011 Census. Th ...

. As a poet, he has won many bardic chairs, but never the

National Eisteddfod The National Eisteddfod of Wales (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 Europe. Competitors ...

. Many collections of his work have been published, including ''Hanes Y Daith'' and a book about space. He was a renowned writer of the

englyn (; plural ) is a traditional Welsh and Cornish short poem form. It uses quantitative metres, involving the counting of syllables, and rigid patterns of rhyme and half rhyme. Each line contains a repeating pattern of consonants and accent know ...

form.

Bibliography

*''Caneuon y Gwynt a'r Glaw'' (1975) *''I'r Rhai sy'n gweld Rhosyn Gwyllt'' (1979)

References

Welsh-language poets Welsh male poets People from Gwynedd 1920 births 2013 deaths 20th-century Welsh poets 20th-century British male writers {{Wales-writer-stub