William Thomas Pennar Davies (12 November 1911 – 29 December 1996) was a Welsh clergyman and author. Born William Thomas Davies, in

Mountain Ash Mountain ash may refer to: * ''Eucalyptus regnans'', the tallest of all flowering plants, native to Australia * Mountain-ashes or rowans, varieties of trees and shrubs in the genus ''Sorbus'' See also

* Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, a town ...

, the son of a miner, he took the name "Pennar" (a stream in Mountain Ash and the root of its Welsh name ''Aberpennar'') "as a sign of his identification with the native culture of Wales". Pennar Davies studied at

University of Wales, Cardiff Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

, at Balliol and

Mansfield College, Oxford Mansfield College, Oxford is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. The college was founded in Birmingham in 1838 as a college for Nonconformist students. It moved to Oxford in 1886 and was renamed Mansfield Coll ...

, and at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. In 1943 he became a

Congregational Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational ...

minister in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. He was subsequently professor of Church History at Bala-Bangor Theological College and Brecon Congregational Memorial College, was Principal of Brecon Congregational Memorial College from 1950 and Principal of Swansea Memorial College from 1959 until his retirement in 1979. Davies wrote poetry under the pseudonym Davies Aberpennar. Until about 1948 he wrote in both Welsh and English, and after this almost exclusively in Welsh, which he had learnt as a young man. A member of

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; , ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, and often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left, Welsh nationalist list of political parties in Wales, political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from th ...

, he was co-opted onto its National Executive Committee (Welsh: Pwyllgor Gwaith Cenedlaethol) at Easter 1947, Literary Editor of the party's monthly newspaper, ''The Welsh Nationalist'' from March 1947 and its Editor from April 1949. During this period, the newspaper published new poetry by

Idris Davies Idris Davies (6 January 1905 – 6 April 1953) was a Welsh poet. Born in Rhymney, near Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales, he became a poet, originally writing in Welsh, but later writing exclusively in English. Davies was the only poet to cover th ...

and

R. S. Thomas Ronald Stuart Thomas (29 March 1913 – 25 September 2000), published as R. S. Thomas, was a Welsh poet and Anglican priest noted for nationalism, spirituality and dislike of the anglicisation of Wales. John Betjeman, introducing ''Song at the ...

Davies stood as a Parliamentary candidate at

Llanelli ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...

in the UK general elections of 1964 and the

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

. He was a leading campaigner for

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 ...

broadcasting. Pennar Davies and his wife Rosemarie had five children. His eldest son Dr Meirion Pennar, became a leading Welsh language academic, poet and translator.

Works

Poetry

*''Cinio'r Cythraul'' (1946) *''Naw Wfft'' (1957) *''Yr Efrydd o Lyn Cynon'' (1961) *''Y Tlws yn y Lotws'' (1971)

Short stories

*''Y Dyn a'r Llygoden Mawr'' (1941) *''Caregl Nwyf'' (1966)

Novels

*''Meibion Darogan'' (1968) *''Mabinogi Mwys'' (1979)

Non-fiction

*''Rhwng Chwedl a Chredo'' (1966)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Pennar 1911 births 1996 deaths People from Mountain Ash, Wales 20th-century Congregationalist ministers Welsh-language poets Welsh-language writers Welsh-speaking clergy Welsh-speaking academics Welsh Congregationalist ministers 20th-century Welsh clergy 20th-century Welsh writers 20th-century Welsh poets 20th-century Welsh male writers