0:00:00 > 0:00:00- 888
0:00:00 > 0:00:02- 888- - 888
0:00:07 > 0:00:09- 888
0:00:14 > 0:00:16- 888
0:00:21 > 0:00:23- 888
0:00:39 > 0:00:41- Life in Craig was interesting.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44- Everybody was very independent.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47- Its acres yielded wheat - in abundance.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51- A thousand sheep on the mountains - yielded wool.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04- Beside the narrow pathway - that split her plot in two
0:01:05 > 0:01:08- My mother had her border
0:01:08 > 0:01:10- Where the prettiest flowers grew.
0:01:12 > 0:01:17- Y Border Bach by Crwys. - It's one of our most famous poems.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22- Here's that very border, - by the poet's house.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25- The poem has three themes.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30- His longing for his mother, - for the area and for yesteryear.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34- He left here - to be educated and to work.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38- Yet, he always returns - to his old neighbourhood...
0:01:38 > 0:01:40- ..to his people, the 'werin'.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43- Yes, it's a big thing for him.
0:01:43 > 0:01:48- He even describes the flowers - as members of the 'werin'.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52- This floral force of commoners - Where none denies his ancestry.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56- He tells of the bees - that visit this little border.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59- They prefer it to mansion flowers.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01- And I saw the mansion gardens' bees
0:02:02 > 0:02:04- Amidst the little border's flowers.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09- A shoemaker's son, - books were scarce at home.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13- He had books on plants, - and the Bible perhaps.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16- But his uncle, - Ap Llewelyn, was a poet.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18- He could write englynion.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22- It was by his side - that Crwys's interest emerged.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25- Ap Llewelyn - was a master of cynghanedd...
0:02:25 > 0:02:29- ..but the main influence - on the young Crwys...
0:02:29 > 0:02:32- ..was Ap Llewelyn's - religious poetry.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35- His early poems - were sermons in verse.
0:02:35 > 0:02:41- Even when writing memorial poems, - he would still tend to moralize.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47- His real name - was William Williams.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51- He took the name Crwys - from the Congregational chapel...
0:02:51 > 0:02:54- ..at Craig Cefn Parc, - Pant y Crwys.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56- He became known as just Crwys.
0:02:56 > 0:03:01- It was a name that managed - to confuse certain people.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06- Non-Welsh speakers, - introducing him at meetings...
0:03:06 > 0:03:10- ..often welcomed Mr Curious - or Mr Serious Williams.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25- Crwys is said to have been born...
0:03:25 > 0:03:27- ..in this house - near Mynydd y Gwair in 1875.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31- Even in his earliest days - as a poet...
0:03:31 > 0:03:34- ..he held the Welsh language - in high esteem.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38- He elevated the lives - of ordinary people.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42- Of the three National Eisteddfod - Crowns that he won...
0:03:42 > 0:03:47- ..his poem Gwerin Cymru - won the highest praise.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52- They have no court nor castle
0:03:52 > 0:03:55- Nor a palace nor manor house now
0:03:57 > 0:04:03- But the old language sparkles - On the lips of these great folk.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09- Crwys was a very private man.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11- He wouldn't speak to everybody.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13- I don't know why.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16- He was that type of character.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21- He loved lecturing - and delivering sermons.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32- If we define a romantic poet - as one who idealizes the past...
0:04:33 > 0:04:36- ..and responds by instinct, - not reason...
0:04:36 > 0:04:41- ..and who elevates simple things, - then Crwys has to be a romantic poet.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45- Yet, he didn't remain - in "the unadorned cottage."
0:04:46 > 0:04:48- He chose instead to escape.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01- He attended Penclyn school...
0:05:02 > 0:05:04- ..and then Ammanford school.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08- The school, run by Watcyn Wyn, - was for aspiring ministers.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11- He would travel along this road...
0:05:11 > 0:05:14- ..from Cwm Lon, - over Mynydd y Gwair...
0:05:14 > 0:05:17- ..and then he'd pass a milestone.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20- It showed clearly, - at the time, these words.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22- Llandeilo, 12 miles.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40- As you go toward Llandeilo
0:05:40 > 0:05:43- Across the mountain from Cwm Lon
0:05:43 > 0:05:45- With some moss about its forehead
0:05:46 > 0:05:48- At its foot some mountain straw
0:05:48 > 0:05:51- Stands a one-faced - rough-hewn milestone
0:05:51 > 0:05:53- With its message, terse and bleak
0:05:54 > 0:05:56- Twelve more miles - to reach Llandeilo
0:05:56 > 0:05:58- That is all it deigns to speak.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04- There it stood when, as a schoolboy
0:06:04 > 0:06:06- I set forth upon my way
0:06:07 > 0:06:09- With no-one to share my yearning
0:06:09 > 0:06:11- Or to sweeten my long day.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14- Never mind how great your worries
0:06:14 > 0:06:16- Even though your tears flow
0:06:17 > 0:06:19- All it says, "Llandeilo, 12 miles"
0:06:20 > 0:06:22- That's the way you have to go.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28- It was set right here by someone
0:06:29 > 0:06:31- Who long passed upon his way.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34- Here it's stood through many ages
0:06:34 > 0:06:37- Like a gravestone marking time.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42- Even when the words have mouldered
0:06:43 > 0:06:45- And the stone's gone piece by piece
0:06:45 > 0:06:49- There will still be 12 miles
0:06:49 > 0:06:51- To Llandeilo until the end of time.
0:07:12 > 0:07:18- His poems and recitations - were very popular in their day...
0:07:18 > 0:07:21- ..because people understood them.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25- People could appreciate them - immediately.
0:07:25 > 0:07:30- They mentioned characters - with whom people could identify.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35- A romantic poem - recalls him going to school.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38- His mother bids him farewell.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41- She hands him - a half sovereign over the hedge.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44- A thorn cuts deep into her flesh.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48- Her blood flows onto the gold coin.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50- A drop of my mother's blood - was on it
0:07:50 > 0:07:54- That no-one, save One, - knows its worth.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58- This memory nagged him - on his journey to school.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04- A drop of my mother's blood - was on it
0:08:07 > 0:08:10- That no-one, save One, - knows its worth.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14- The journey - to Ysgol y Gwynfryn, Ammanford...
0:08:14 > 0:08:17- ..away from the people - of Craig Cefn Parc...
0:08:17 > 0:08:20- ..would take him far, - in more than one sense.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28- From Ammanford, - he went to college in Bangor.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31- There he met his wife, - Grace Harriet Jones.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35- At this time, he was successful - at eisteddfodau.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38- The influences on his poetry grew.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41- After the influence - of his uncle, Ap Llewelyn...
0:08:42 > 0:08:46- ..Watcyn Wyn came along, - then Ceiriog and John Morris-Jones.
0:08:46 > 0:08:51- They all intensified his aim - of producing simple, natural poetry.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53- Lyrical singing.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56- Ceiriog was the first I ever knew.
0:08:57 > 0:08:59- His influence upon me was great.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03- I'm not sure - that it hasn't followed me...
0:09:03 > 0:09:05- ..and persecuted me to this day.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20- I heard no-one walking - Nor knocking the door, nor crying.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22- What's a lyrical poem?
0:09:22 > 0:09:26- It's not a measure such as - a sonnet, limerick or englyn.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28- It's a kind of feeling.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32- As an example, you'd look to Crwys.
0:09:32 > 0:09:37- Yes, take his verse describing - an autumn leaf as a letter.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40- He talks of the seasons changing.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44- I have known for many weeks - And more that it was sick
0:09:44 > 0:09:48- And now the letter has arrived - To say that summer's dead.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51- That's a lyrical poem for you.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59- And now the letter has arrived
0:10:00 > 0:10:03- To say that summer's dead.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14- Crwys worked for the Bible Society - for over 30 years.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18- He had ample opportunities - to travel Wales, and beyond.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22- Time and again, - we see how specific locations...
0:10:22 > 0:10:24- ..awaken the muse within him.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29- From the Elan Valley to St Malo, - from the Menai to Aberaeron...
0:10:29 > 0:10:33- ..Crwys seemed to respond - to what he saw around him.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37- Looking back - at the things I've done...
0:10:37 > 0:10:42- ..I'd say that many sensations - were visually derived.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45- Things I saw with my own eyes.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53- One place immortalized - in his work is Trefin Mill.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56- In this poem, - the old foe, time, is passing.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59- This became a constant spectre.
0:10:59 > 0:11:04- Once again, history captivates him.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07- As in the poems Y Garreg Filltir - and Dysgub Y Dail...
0:11:08 > 0:11:11- ..Crwys seems immensely saddened...
0:11:11 > 0:11:14- ..as he reflects - on time defeating us.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31- Tonight, the mill's not grinding
0:11:31 > 0:11:33- In Trefin along the shore
0:11:33 > 0:11:35- The last pony has turned homeward
0:11:36 > 0:11:38- With its load - from the miller's door.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42- And the wheel, - whose grunts and snarling
0:11:42 > 0:11:45- Once were heard across the land
0:11:45 > 0:11:48- Has, since the miller's passing
0:11:48 > 0:11:50- Fallen silent and turns no more.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57- Though the kindly stream's - still flowing
0:11:57 > 0:11:59- Past the gable of the mill
0:11:59 > 0:12:01- As no farmer brings his barley
0:12:01 > 0:12:05- The old wheel stays quiet, still.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14- Where the white heat of Llanrhian
0:12:14 > 0:12:17- Came at harvest by the load
0:12:17 > 0:12:22- Now you'll find - just strands of seaweed
0:12:22 > 0:12:24- And dried rushes in the road.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30- The great millstone stands a sentry
0:12:30 > 0:12:32- In the tempest, in the rain
0:12:33 > 0:12:35- An unlettered memorial stone
0:12:35 > 0:12:38- Of a happier time gone by.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43- But no-one grinds here any more
0:12:44 > 0:12:46- Save for weather and sullen time.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50- They are grinding and destroying
0:12:50 > 0:12:53- The old mill that's in Trefin.
0:12:59 > 0:12:59- .
0:13:07 > 0:13:07- 888
0:13:07 > 0:13:09- 888- - 888
0:13:21 > 0:13:24- In 1898, he moved to Brynmawr.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28- What a contrast - to the village of Craig Cefn Parc.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31- It was more anglicized - and, in those days...
0:13:31 > 0:13:34- ..a much more industrialized place.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45- Despite the praise - for his boyhood home...
0:13:45 > 0:13:48- ..Crwys claimed - that his time in Brynmawr...
0:13:48 > 0:13:53- ..as minister of Rehoboth, - were his happiest days.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58- The chapel is no more.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01- When he wrote a sonnet - on leaving here...
0:14:01 > 0:14:05- ..and writing of the lights - "switching off, one by one"...
0:14:05 > 0:14:09- ..he could hardly have imagined - all the lights going off...
0:14:09 > 0:14:12- ..and the building being demolished.
0:14:25 > 0:14:34- Peace, dear place, until old age - Your light will shine upon my path.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43- The sermons delivered by Crwys - were mainly in English.
0:14:43 > 0:14:48- And yet, his poems suggest - a true love of the Welsh language.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52- After all, one poem is called - Caru Cymru (A Love of Wales).
0:14:52 > 0:14:56- I love and speak - my country's sweet tongue.
0:14:56 > 0:15:01- The language of home and chapel, - of my mother and father.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11- But he didn't speak Welsh - to his own children.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13- Maybe that was the fashion.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17- Perhaps, but you would - have thought that Crwys...
0:15:18 > 0:15:21- ..the Archdruid of Wales, - the people's poet...
0:15:21 > 0:15:25- ..would have passed - on the language to his family.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30- It was a dispiriting experience - for a young man in Brynmawr.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33- I could see the language dying.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37- I lived close to Nantyglo, - land of the iron furnaces.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40- I couldn't fail - to note the contrast...
0:15:40 > 0:15:43- ..between Nant yr Eira - in Montgomeryshire...
0:15:43 > 0:15:45- ..and Nantyglo in Gwent.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50- In Nant yr Eira, - the language still flourished.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53- In Nantyglo, the language was dying.
0:15:53 > 0:15:58- The language is more prosperous - in snow (eira) than in coal (glo).
0:15:59 > 0:16:03- As I recall it, Crwys's children - didn't speak Welsh at all.
0:16:04 > 0:16:05- I don't know why.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08- They spoke English. - I remember speaking to them.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11- It was hard to believe, - quite honestly.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27- I love each fair acre - of my dear Wales.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30- Her mountains and clean open moors.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36- How did the old offender know
0:16:36 > 0:16:40- That Mother was growing old?
0:16:45 > 0:16:47- Autumn gales roared last night
0:16:48 > 0:16:50- They shook the town's foundations.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54- In Craig Cefn Parc, - no-one speaks of Cymrodorion.
0:16:55 > 0:17:02- In Craig Cefn Parc, the mother tongue - is nourishment, not medicine.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07- Like many others, I remember - learning his work at school.
0:17:07 > 0:17:13- Even now, his poems are still sung - and recited on our stages.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16- Hey-ho, hey-di-ho - I'm the gypsy on the go
0:17:16 > 0:17:19- Cloch Y Llan, Hon Yw Fy Olwen I.
0:17:19 > 0:17:24- They sound simple, - but he wasn't a slap-dash poet.
0:17:24 > 0:17:29- His detailed notes - and corrections show the work...
0:17:29 > 0:17:34- ..that was put into creating - an ostensibly simple piece.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39- An interesting theme emerges - from a study of the manuscripts.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44- Crwys went to a great deal - of trouble when composing poems.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46- He was a perfectionist.
0:17:46 > 0:17:51- For example, his poem - is on one side of a page.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53- On the other side are many notes.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57- Ideas would occur to him, - and he'd experiment with words.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01- You can then see - how the poem grows and develops.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18- We've already heard - about his obsession with time.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22- He frequently mentions - old age in his poems.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26- An old apple tree, - the old people, an old friend...
0:18:26 > 0:18:29- ..and surely - the most famous old man of all.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33- The old man, early one morning, - sweeping up the leaves.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36- We all face the same fate...
0:18:36 > 0:18:39- ..as the poet who meets the boat - in the poem Gweddill.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51- No tide has ever filled a beach
0:18:51 > 0:18:53- With nothing in its lap
0:18:54 > 0:18:57- No tide has ever ebbed away
0:18:57 > 0:19:03- Leaving nothing on the strand.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11- Although the summer's luscious green
0:19:11 > 0:19:14- Will leave the woods and fields
0:19:14 > 0:19:17- It will not snaffle all its gifts
0:19:17 > 0:19:21- There'll be a remnant of its yields.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33- And when I reach the final cove
0:19:33 > 0:19:36- To meet the Stygian ferry
0:19:37 > 0:19:41- Its sail all set, I'll slip away
0:19:44 > 0:19:46- But leave my mark behind me.
0:20:09 > 0:20:15- We've already said that Crwys - was a true enigma, a puzzling man.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19- It's hard to understand - how a minister of religion...
0:20:19 > 0:20:23- ..could use a concept of longing - to persuade young men...
0:20:24 > 0:20:28- ..to fight to the death - for Britain and Wales.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39- The tricolour flag of Britain
0:20:39 > 0:20:41- Flutters in the blue sky
0:20:42 > 0:20:44- And reams of pretty ribbons
0:20:44 > 0:20:48- Fly o'er Court and Church and Manor.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15- Some say there's nothing profound - in his poems, but that's not true.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19- You can be profound - without being complicated.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21- Crwys deals with big issues.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25- But some critics - say that his sentimental streak...
0:21:25 > 0:21:28- ..speaks more to the heart - than to the mind.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30- Perhaps you're right.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35- But while we have hearts, - won't we long for Trefin Mill...
0:21:35 > 0:21:38- ..and feel for the old man - sweeping up the leaves?
0:21:40 > 0:21:45- Autumn gales roared last night
0:21:46 > 0:21:49- They shook the town's foundations
0:21:49 > 0:21:53- And the old man's out there early, - sweeping leaves.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57- Bent and crouching o'er his broom
0:21:57 > 0:21:59- He shuffles there along
0:21:59 > 0:22:04- Like a withered leaf - battling another withered leaf
0:22:06 > 0:22:10- One heap done, and then he pauses
0:22:10 > 0:22:12- And his breath retrieves
0:22:13 > 0:22:15- By next autumn, he himself
0:22:16 > 0:22:19- Will be with the leaves.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49- S4C Subtitles by Adnod Cyf.
0:22:49 > 0:22:50- .