Hedd Wyn, socialism and a conspiracy theory

noreply@blogspirit.com (Lewis JONES) — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 10:44:21 +0000

Interesting article in Golwg magazine about Hedd Wyn, the farmer-poet who died in the trenches of Belgium in 1917 and was awarded the "Black Chair" at the Birkenhead National Eisteddfod posthumously.

Iwan Llwyd has written a play about the poet called "Mae gynnon ni hawl ar y sêr" (We have a right to the stars) in which he explores Hedd Wyn's socialism and how it was affected by a chance encounter with a Russian soldier shortly before his death. The Russian, Hedd Wyn wrote in a letter home before he was killed, told him a new day was dawning in his country, the Bolshevik revolution.

Even for farmers from remote Trawsfynydd, this revolution lit a spark.

Llwyd also puts forward a strikingly modern conspiracy theory - that the Eisteddfod committee awarding the chair, the highest Eisteddfodic award, knew about Hedd Wyn's death and that the award was made for propaganda purposes. It should be remembered that Lloyd George, then Prime Minister and warmonger, attended the Eisteddfod and would have been keen to encourage more Welshmen to enlist as the war dragged on into its third year.

The Black Chair had a tremendous resonance in Wales and and is still today an incredibly poignant story of a generation cut down in their prime.

I'm not sure I buy the conspiracy theory - the relevant government papers would be available to check by now anyway - but I wouldn't put anything past a warmongering Prime Minister.

• Perhaps some readers might find it amusing that the top prize in the National Eisteddfod for a poet is a chair. I like the practicality of the idea - let's face it, you can't walk around with a crown on your head.

seren - diwylliant_-_culture

Hedd Wyn, socialism and a conspiracy theory