William Rees (8 November 1802 – 8 November 1883), usually known in Wales by his

bardic name A bardic name (, ) is a pseudonym used in Wales, Cornwall, or Brittany by poets and other artists, especially those involved in the eisteddfod movement. The Welsh language, Welsh term bardd ('poet') originally referred to the Welsh poets of the M ...

of Gwilym Hiraethog, was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

poet and author, one of the major figures of

Welsh literature Welsh literature is any literature originating from Wales or by Welsh writers: *Welsh-language literature Welsh-language literature () has been produced continuously since the emergence of Welsh from Brythonic as a distinct language in a ...

during the 19th century. Gwilym Hiraethog took his pseudonym from his birthplace, a farm called Chwibren-isaf, near

Llansannan Llansannan is a rural village and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It lies on the bank of the River Aled and is about 8 miles to the south of Abergele and to the west of Denbigh. The population was 1,291 in 2001, with 67% able to spea ...

, on Mynydd Hiraethog in

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

. He was the second son of Anne and David Rees, a farmer. Age three, he contracted smallpox and lost the sight in his right eye. He worked on the farm and as a sheperd in his teens. His older brother Henry Rees became a Calvinistic Methodist leader. Largely self-educated, having only attended the village school in winter, Rees was a polymath, who took an interest in

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and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

as well as being a Nonconformist minister and a leading literary figure. A neighbour, Robert ap Dafydd of Cilfach Lwyd, taught Rees the rules of Welsh prosody and Rees went on to win a prize at the 1826 Brecon

eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, a ...

for a ''

cywydd The cywydd (; plural ) is one of the most important metrical forms in traditional Welsh poetry ( cerdd dafod). There are a variety of forms of the cywydd, but the word on its own is generally used to refer to the ("long-lined couplet") as it is ...

'' (poem) on the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the Royal Navy and a combined fleet of the French Navy, French and Spanish Navy, Spanish navies during the War of the Third Coalition. As part of Na ...

and the death of Nelson. This gave him public attention. He joined the Independents church and became a popular preacher in the Welsh language. He became a minister in 1831 in Mostyn, later working in Denbigh and Liverpool. In 1843, he founded the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

journal ''Yr Amserau ("The Times")'' in

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. He used the newspaper to campaign for the

disestablishment The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular s ...

of the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

in Wales. Rees also penned the hymn text of ''Dyma gariad fel y moroedd'' (''Here is love, vast as the ocean''), which was first published in 1847 but strongly associated with the

1904-1905 Welsh revival Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

. His ''Helyntion Bywyd Hen Deiliwr'' (''Predicaments of an Old Tailor'') (1877) was a pioneering attempt to fashion a Welsh-language novel.Brooks, Simon (2017), ''Why Wales Never Was: The Failure of Welsh Nationalism'', University of Wales Press, Cardiff, p. 63 He retired in 1875 soon after the death of his wife Ann and moved to Chester to live with his daughter, where he died on his birthday on 8 November 1883.

Works

Poetry

*''Emmanuel'' (1861) *''Tŵr Dafydd sef, Salmau Dafydd'' (1875) (Metrical Psalms) *''Gweithiau Barddonol Gwilym Hiraethog'' (1855)

Prose

*''Llythyrau 'Rhen Ffarmwr'' (1878)

Novels

*''Aelwyd F'Ewythr Robert'' (1852) *''Helyntion Bywyd Hen Deiliwr'' (1877)

Drama

*''Y Dydd Hwnnw''

Works

Poetry

Prose

Novels

Drama

References

Further reading