Robert Bryan (1858 – 5 May 1920) was a Welsh poet, composer and folklorist.

Life

He was born at

Llanarmon-yn-Iâl Llanarmon-yn-Iâl is a village, and local government community, in Denbighshire, Wales, lying in limestone country in the valley of the River Alyn. The community is part of an electoral ward called Llanarmon-yn-Iâl/Llandegla. The population o ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

, Wales, son of Edward and Elinor Bryan . He was a pupil and a pupil teacher at the

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

British School and then educated at the Normal College, Bangor, the

University College of Wales, Aberystwyth , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...

, and at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He was forced to discontinue his studies at Oxford in 1893 without attaining a degree because of ill health. He lived at

and

Marchwiel Marchwiel ( cy, Marchwiail) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It is about 2 miles south-east of Wrexham city on the A525 road towards Bangor-on-Dee. The community has an area of 1,488 hectares and a population of 1,4 ...

until 1903 when he moved to

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is ...

, where his brothers, Edward and Joseph Davies Bryan, had a house. His brothers ran a successful retail business in Egypt with large stores in Cairo and Alexandria, and branches in Port Said and Khartoum. Robert Bryan spent most of his winters there, returning to Caernarfon each summer. Between 1905 and 1909 he was a teacher at Rhostryfan. He died in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, on 5 May 1920, and was buried there. He was unmarried.

Works

Poems by him were published in ''Oldlau Can'' (1901). Another volume ''Tua'r Wawr'', was published posthumously in 1921. He wrote music arrangements at the request of David Thomas, of Bangor whilst he was teaching. They were written for Alun Mabon of Ceiriog.

Bibliography

Poems *Odlau Cân (Llanuwchllyn, 1901) *Tua'r Wawr (1921) Music (As editor): *Alawon y Celt - Celtic tunes (two volumes, 1905)

References

1858 births 1920 deaths British music arrangers Welsh composers Welsh male composers Welsh folklorists Welsh-language poets 19th-century Welsh historians 20th-century Welsh historians People from Denbighshire {{Wales-writer-stub