Rev. Gwilym Richard Tilsley (26 May 1911 – 30 August 1997), commonly known 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 term bardd ("poet") originally referred to the Welsh poets of the Middle Ages, who m ...

of "Tilsli", was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

poet who served as Archdruid of the

National Eisteddfod of Wales The National Eisteddfod of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Eur ...

between 1969 and 1972. He was born at Tŷ Llwyd near

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and educated at Manledd primary school, Llanidloes County School, the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and Wesley House, Cambridge, before entering the (Wesleyan) Methodist ministry. As a Methodist minister, he served in Commins Coch near Machynlleth (1939 to 1942), Pontrhydygroes in

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(1942 to 1945),

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(1945 to 1950), Colwyn Bay (1950 to 1955), Llanrwst (1955 to 1960), Caernarfon (1960 to 1965), Rhyl (1965 to 1970) and Wrexham (1970 to 1975) before retiring to Prestatyn. This experience of the itinerant life of a Methodist minister in both north and south Wales inspired the two heroic poems to the industrial worker which brought him to prominence: He won the chair at the

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in 1950 for a poem ''Moliant i'r Glöwr'' in praise of the coal miner, and again at Llangefni in 1957 with the poem ''Cwm Carnedd'' about the life of the slate quarryman. Tilsley wrote the words of several Welsh hymns, including ''Am ffydd, nefol dad, y deisyfwn'' ("I beseech Thee for faith, O Heavenly Father") He married Anne Eluned Jones (1908–2003) in 1945. A son, Gareth Maldwyn Tilsley, was born in 1946.

Works

* ''Y glöwr a cherddi eraill'' (1957)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tilsley, Gwilym 1911 births 1997 deaths Alumni of Aberystwyth University Chaired bards Welsh Eisteddfod archdruids Welsh Methodist ministers Welsh-language poets Welsh-speaking clergy 20th-century Welsh poets Alumni of Wesley House 20th-century Welsh clergy