Emyr Llywelyn Lecture 2019
‘Waldo’s Religion’ was Emyr Llywelyn’s chosen topic on the occasion of the ninth Annual Cymdeithas Waldo Lecture at Oriel y Parc, St Davids on Friday, September 27. It was Emyr who also delivered the inaugural lecture at Capel Bethel, Mynachlog-ddu, when he dissected ‘Tŷ Ddewi’, Waldo’s ode to St Davids. On this occasion he compared the similar rural backgrounds in which Jesus Christ was brought up in Nazareth and Waldo in the Preselau and came to the conclusion that Waldo was a true disciple of the Jew as he also wanted to turn...
Read MoreRev Guto Prys ap Gwynfor Lecture 2018
A profound and comprehensive lecture was delivered by Guto Prys ap Gwynfor at Millin Chapel, near Haverfordwest, on Friday, September 28 placing Waldo very much in the pantheon of history’s rightful nonconformists. He listed him in the tradition of the Roman occupation heretics as one who would not bow to the wishes of any state if that clashed with his conscience. Guto insisted the line ‘Gwyn eu byd yr oes a’u clyw’ (Bless the lives of those who hear them) from the poem ‘Y Tangnefeddwyr’ (The Peacemakers) referred not...
Read MoreLecture by Robert Rhys 2017
Re-building the House Dr Robert Rhys based his lecture at Capel Hermon, Fishguard, on September 29 2017, to a large extent, on the majestic ode of praise delivered by Waldo on the occasion of honouring D. J. Williams by Plaid Cymru in the same town in 1964. Waldo and D.J. were the best of friends despite the almost twenty years age gap between them. D. J. spent the greater part of his working life as a teacher at Fishguard High School though not from choice. He often applied for the headships of other high schools, including Llandeilo in his...
Read MoreLecture by Ieuan Wyn 2016
The poems of Waldo Williams are full of eternal hope of a better world. That was the gist of National bard, Ieuan Wyn’s lecture as he delivered the seventh Annual Cymdeithas Waldo Lecture at Llangernyw, near Llanrwst, on the actual date of Waldo’s birthday – September 30. Though mainly associated with Pembrokeshire, Waldo also had close family ties with Bro Hiraethog as his mother’s family hailed from the area. Hence a plaque underlining the close association was unveiled at the entrance to the Sir Henry Jones Museum in the...
Read MoreLecture by Professor M. Wynn Thomas 2016
In a lecture delivered in the village of Rhoscrowther, near Pembroke on 26 May 2016, Professor M. Wynn Thomas - for the first time in the public arena - dealt with the effect of the anxiety that Waldo Williams felt as a result of his father’s loss of sanity. It was because of John Edwal’s ill-health the family moved from Haverfordwest to Mynachlog-ddu so that he could regain his strength in the mountain breeze as the headmaster of a much smaller school. Years later, after the death of his parents, Waldo received treatment for his own severe nervous affliction.
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