Cerdd 'W R' i 'Steddfod Abergweun 1936' - A poem by W R Evans to the 1936 Eisteddfod (with translation)

(For English translation, please scroll down)

“Wedd hi’n Steddfod gartrefol ombeidus,
A’r pafiliwn bob dwarnod in llawn.
We presirdeb mowr iawn in Parc Lota,
A ffrenshïeth in amlwg iawn.
Ma hanner can mline, chi, bellach,
Ddar diddie’r Eisteddfod ‘ny,
Abergweun wedi newid in jogel,
Pethe newy in awr ar bob tu.
Ar weitha pob newid ac altrans,
Os yw Amser in gadel ‘i frech,
Bydd hwyl anghiffredin ma ‘to, chi,
In Steddfod mil naw wyth deg whech”

Cerdd a ‘sgrifenwyd gan W.R.Evans yn 1986, i’w cynnwys yng nghyfrol ‘Abergwaun a’r Fro’ (Cyfres Bro’r Eisteddfod 6) Gwasg Christopher Davies ISBN 0715406787) Yn y gyfrol ceir disgrifiad o Eisteddfod Abergwaun 1936 ganddo.

W R Evans (1910-1991) Ganed W.R. yng Nglyn Saith Maen, Mynachlog-ddu. Wedi bod yn y coleg ym Mangor, daeth yn athro i’r ‘Cownsil Sgwl’ yn Abergwaun, yn 1932, gan weithio o dan y prifathro O D Jones. Bu yn ddarlithydd yng Ngholeg Addysg Y Barri, ac yn Drefnydd Iaith ac yn Arolygwr Ysgolion yn Sir Benfro. Am flynyddoedd bu’n arweinydd parti o gantorion, ‘Bois y Frenni’, a oedd yn arbenigo mewn adloniant ysgafn a pherfformio mewn cyngherddau a nosweithiau llawen. Mae’r parti yn  dal i berfformio ei ganeuon. Cyhoeddodd W.R. gyfrolau o farddoniaeth, ac yr oedd yn adnabyddus am ei ddawn i hala pawb i chwerthin, ar lafar, ac mewn print.

Yn ei hunangofiant ‘Fi yw Hwn’ (Gwasg Christopher Davies ISBN 0715405691) mae’n egluro mai £11 y mis oedd cyflog athro ifanc ar y pryd. Bu W.R. yn lletya yn Abergwaun ar y dechrau, gan fynd i’r gwaith ar gewn ‘pwshbeic’. Byddai’n talu rhwng punt a phump swllt ar hugain yr wythnos am lety. Daeth yn ffrindiau gyda Benny Lewis, y masiwn, Wdig, a B J Griffiths, mab ffatri wlân Tregwynt. Cyn hir, gwelodd y mantais mewn prynu beic BSA 350. Mae’n siwr y byddai plant Abergwaun wrth eu bodd yn gweld ‘Mr Evans’ yn cyrraedd ei waith ar hwnnw!

Pan gafodd W.R. swydd fel Arolygydd Ysgolion a Threfnydd Iaith yn Sir Benfro daeth gyda’i wraig, Fanw, a’u merch, Gwawr, yn ôl i Benyraber i fyw.  Ystâd newydd sbon o fyngalos modern oedd Penyraber ar y pryd.  Ymaelododd W.R. a Fanw gyda’r Bedyddwyr yng Nghapel Hermon, ac yno y priodwyd Gwawr yn 1975. Bu Mrs Fanw Evans yn athrawes yn y dosbarth bababod yn Ysgol Casblaidd ac yn fishi yn dysgu plant yr ardal i adrodd ar gyfer eisteddfodau.

“A very homely type of ‘Steddfod,
The pavilion was full every day.
Lota Park, so bustling and busy,
Friends meeting and chatting away.
But, fifty years have flown past us,
Since that ‘Steddfod, so long ago.
Fishguard has changed so greatly,
New faces, new places- and more!
Yet, if the old place seems so different
And Time has been up to it’s tricks
There’ll be ‘hwyl’, there’ll be singing in Fishguard
For the ‘Steddfod in ninteen eighty six.”

A poem written by W.R.Evans in 1986, for inclusion in the volume ‘Abergwaun a’r Fro ‘(Eisteddfod Bro Series 6) Christopher Davies Press ISBN 0715406787) The volume contains a description of the 1936 Fishguard Eisteddfod.

W R Evans (1910-1991) W.R.  was born at Glyn Saith Maen, Mynachlog-ddu. After attending college in Bangor, he became a junior teacher at Fishguard Council School in 1932, working under the headmaster O D Jones. Later he became a lecturer at Barry College of Education, and a Language Organizer and Inspector of Schools in Pembrokeshire. He established and  led a party of singers, ‘Bois y Frenni’, who specialized in light entertainment and performing in concerts and ‘noson lawen’. The party is still performing the songs he composed for them. W.R. produced volumes of poetry, and he was known for his ability to make everyone laugh, orally and in print.

In his autobiography ‘Fi yw Hwn’ [trans – ‘This is Me’](Christopher Davies Press ISBN 0715405691) he explains that the salary of a young teacher at Fishguard Council School in 1932 was £ 11 a month. W.R. initially found lodgings in Fishguard, going to work on a ‘push bike’. He would pay between one pound and twenty-five shillings a week for accommodation. He became friends with Benny Lewis, the stonemason, Goodwick, and B J Griffiths, son of the Tregwynt woollen factory. Soon he saw the advantage of buying a BSA 350 bike. Fishguard children would surely love to see ‘Mr Evans’ get to work on that!

When W.R. was appointed Inspector of Schools and Language Organiser for Pembrokeshire around 1970 he brought his wife, Fanw, and their daughter, Gwawr, back to Penyraber to live. Penyraber was a brand new estate of modern bungalows at the time. The family became members at Hermon Baptist Chapel, where Gwawr was married in 1975. Mrs Fanw Evans taught the infants class at Wolfscastle School and was a respected tutor of competitors for eisteddfod recitation.