If you were alive in 1700, and were asked to name the best poet in Wales, you wouldn’t be out of place if you replied Huw Morys.

The view was widely held at the time, and still holds true today, even though his work is no longer as well known. The 400th anniversary of his birth this year is an opportunity to revisit the great poet’s work.

Huw lived at Pont-y-meibion in the Ceirog Valley, a roadside farmhouse between Pandy and Tregeiriog. He was born in 1622 and died in 1709, and was buried at St Silin Church, Llansilin, where he’d been a warden. He had a long life, and composed poetry for at least 60 years. It’s no wonder that many of his poems – more 500– have survived, although very few are within easy reach today.

So what was so special about Huw?

Put simply, his poetry sings. Huw was a master of cynghanedd, a sound-based system for composing lines of poetry with alliteration and internal rhyme that’s unique to the Welsh language. He also composed on a wide variety of poetic meters, from the traditional cywydd to the more popular summer carol, as well as brand new forms of poetry that were sung on English tunes and filled to the brim with cynghanedd. He composed poetry both for the gentry and for the poor, and used his muse to praise and commemorate, to request and give thanks, to celebrate and console. In a word, he was a pioneer, and his work had a profound influence on Welsh poetry throughout the eighteenth century and beyond.

He was, without a doubt, a local boy done good. After all, very few places can claim as one of their own a poet of Huw Morys’ stature.

 

Celebration events include a discussion and song by poet Eurig Salisbury and a gig by folk band Hen Fegin to mark 400 years since the birth of poet Huw Morys who is buried in Llansilin.

Celebration events include a discussion and song by poet Eurig Salisbury and a gig by folk band Hen Fegin to mark 400 years since the birth of poet Huw Morys who is buried in Llansilin.

 

Celebration events

To mark the occasion, four events will take place on the weekend of April 30 and May 1.

On Saturday, April 30, there will be a five-mile guided walk from Pont-y-meibion to Llansilin; a journey that Huw Morys himself would have made weekly to attend church. Walkers will meet at Llansilin car park at 10.30am, and minibuses will take people over to Pont-y-meibion to begin the journey. The walk will also call at Erw Gerrig to visit Huw Morys’ seat. Bring a picnic and suitable clothing and footwear.

Then at 7pm in Ceiriog Institute Memorial Hall, Glyn Ceiriog, there will be a discussion and song with Eurig Salisbury, poet and lecturer at the Department of Welsh at Aberystwyth University. The evening will include performances of some of Huw Morys’s poems. Tickets costs £5 including a cuppa.

The celebrations on Sunday, May 1, begin with a May Day service with summer carols, similar to plygain carols, at St Silin Church, Llansilin at 2pm.

The service will be followed live music with Welsh folk band Hen Fegin at the Wynnstay Inn, Llansilin, at 4pm with some Welsh barn dancing, also known as a twmpath along with a Welsh folk tune session.

Displays on the life and work of Huw Morys will be available to browse free of charge at Ceiriog Institute Memorial Hall on Saturday (April 30) and at St Silin Church on Sunday.

Places must be pre-booked for the walk and the Saturday evening Discussion and Song event. Contact Rhian on menteriaithmaldwyn@gmail.com or 07969 062263 or Peter Bates at p6jpb@yahoo.co.uk or 01691 718376.