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
0:00:35 > 0:00:37- When I am old and famous
0:00:38 > 0:00:40- With money in my purse
0:00:43 > 0:00:46- And all my critics silenced
0:00:46 > 0:00:48- For better or for worse.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55- I'll buy me a lonely cottage
0:00:55 > 0:00:57- And at its door shall be
0:00:57 > 0:01:00- The rocks of Aberdaron
0:01:01 > 0:01:03- And the wild waves of the sea.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11- And the wild waves of the sea.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35- When you think of Cynan, - what do you think?
0:01:35 > 0:01:38- Our usual image of him - is as Archdruid...
0:01:38 > 0:01:42- ..a knight of the realm - and an establishment figure.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44- Don't you see him as a rebel?
0:01:44 > 0:01:48- He alludes to that - in his poem about Aberdaron.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50- He also mentions a lonely cottage.
0:01:51 > 0:01:53- It stands above the rocks.
0:01:53 > 0:01:55- That's where I'd like to be.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05- I'll buy me a lonely cottage
0:02:11 > 0:02:14- Here are the rocks of Aberdaron.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17- Here too is the lonely cottage...
0:02:17 > 0:02:20- ..where Cynan wished to live - in his old age.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25- He wanted to hear the waves - awakening his rebellious streak.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28- Until my heart recaptures - Its rebel song of yore.
0:02:36 > 0:02:41- Albert Evans-Jones was born - in Pwllheli in 1895.
0:02:42 > 0:02:47- His parents kept a shop, - Liverpool House.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53- It was a grocer's shop, - then a baker's shop and then a cafe.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56- Behind the shop, - next to the oven...
0:02:57 > 0:03:00- ..Cynan's father - would train children to recite.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06- He went to Bangor University.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10- He joined the ambulance corps - in the First World War...
0:03:11 > 0:03:13- ..before becoming an army chaplain.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17- He witnessed - military action in Macedonia.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26- While in Macedonia, - located between Serbia and Greece...
0:03:26 > 0:03:30- ..with the bullets flying, - he had only a single thought.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35- He wanted to return here, - to the Lleyn countryside.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39- A favourite place was Uwchmynydd, - Cynan's end of the world.
0:03:40 > 0:03:45- Here, he'd see that each day - was as still as a Sunday afternoon.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51- Turning through Uwchmynydd - And its narrow little lanes
0:03:52 > 0:03:56- Where time, the whole time, - is like a Sunday afternoon.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11- In his early life, - when he was emerging as a poet...
0:04:11 > 0:04:13- ..Cynan was regarded as a rebel.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16- He was viewed as an antagonist.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20- He would express his views - in plain and unambiguous terms.
0:04:20 > 0:04:25- He shared a real bond of faith - with those who had endured the war.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30- Many had not survived, - and this moved him deeply.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32- He was their staunch and loyal ally.
0:04:32 > 0:04:38- He'd tell their story in as real - and as correct a way as possible.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42- I find it very sad indeed...
0:04:42 > 0:04:46- ..to tour around - the little villages of Lleyn...
0:04:47 > 0:04:51- ..and seeing the memorials - to those young lives...
0:04:51 > 0:04:54- ..that were squandered - in the Great War...
0:04:54 > 0:04:58- ..by the stubbornness - of politicians...
0:04:59 > 0:05:03- ..and by the mistakes - of incompetent generals.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11- His poem Mab Y Bwthyn - rekindled poignant memories.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15- Many Welshmen - had fought in those dark trenches.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20- Come now back to rural pasture
0:05:21 > 0:05:24- To plough the furrow, - as did your father.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29- Come back again to seventh heaven
0:05:29 > 0:05:32- The place - where once you lived with Gwen.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44- In this poem, he gives voice - to many a soldier's conscience.
0:05:44 > 0:05:50- He asks, son of the poor cottage, - why did you kill your brother?
0:05:50 > 0:05:54- The poem is entitled - Mab Y Bwthyn - Son of the Cottage.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57- It won him - the Eisteddfod Crown in 1921.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00- The language is incredibly simple.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03- Consider his blunt description - of the army.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06- They made me into a killing machine.
0:06:16 > 0:06:21- A killing machine.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23- By 1922, he'd written Mab y Bwthyn.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28- My goodness, it went down - a storm everywhere in Wales.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31- Everyone recited passages from it.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33- People rushed to buy copies.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37- Most of Wales knew it, - and could recite parts of it.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42- That had never happened - with Eisteddfod poetry before.
0:06:46 > 0:06:51- One of his most tender war poems - is Hwiangerddi - Lullabies.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54- It's a form of prayer in song.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57- Peace is sought - amid all the explosions.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59- He illustrates it so vividly.
0:06:59 > 0:07:04- He says that it calls for only - a light breeze from Carn Fadryn.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08- This would suffice - to silence the roar of the guns.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18- Lord, I beg you, let me sleep
0:07:19 > 0:07:21- I've tossed and turned all night
0:07:22 > 0:07:25- My soul's been racked by the torment
0:07:25 > 0:07:27- Of explosions and by fright.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32- How I long for a breeze to soothe me
0:07:33 > 0:07:35- From Carn Fadryn far away
0:07:36 > 0:07:40- With no sounds of guns that thunder
0:07:40 > 0:07:43- Only the songs of a better day.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50- Gentle, peaceful songs of childhood
0:07:50 > 0:07:53- Rather plaintive in their charm
0:07:53 > 0:07:56- Like the whisper of my loved one
0:07:56 > 0:07:59- Sighing, smiling on my arm.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05- Song of summer in its sandals
0:08:05 > 0:08:09- Tripping through the fields of Lleyn
0:08:09 > 0:08:12- And the songs of apple blossom
0:08:12 > 0:08:15- Falling softly one by one.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21- Song of Talcymerau's river
0:08:22 > 0:08:25- Through the gorse bush murmurs
0:08:25 > 0:08:28- Like the sound of night time prayer
0:08:29 > 0:08:31- By the candles of silent stars.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41- Songs of oceans breathing deeply
0:08:42 > 0:08:45- In Abersoch just at dusk
0:08:46 > 0:08:49- Songs that take me from this army
0:08:50 > 0:08:53- Songs of lotus, songs of musk.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00- How I long for a breeze to soothe me
0:09:00 > 0:09:03- From Carn Fadryn far away
0:09:04 > 0:09:06- With no sounds of guns that thunder
0:09:07 > 0:09:11- Only the songs of a better day.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29- After the war, he became minister - of Jerusalem chapel, Penmaenmawr.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32- He also adopted - the bardic name Cynan.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36- I have a theory - about Albert Evans-Jones.
0:09:37 > 0:09:42- He chose the bardic name Cynan...
0:09:42 > 0:09:46- ..because of the link - with Gruffudd ap Cynan.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50- He was King of Gwynedd - and Wales in the 12th century.
0:09:50 > 0:09:56- Appropriately, Gruffudd ap Cynan - laid down new rules for poets.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00- There's a parallel - to be drawn, of course.
0:10:00 > 0:10:05- As Archdruid, Cynan organized - and modernized the Gorsedd of Bards.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09- I believe that Gruffudd ap Cynan...
0:10:09 > 0:10:12- ..inspired Cynan - when choosing a bardic name.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21- He had many successes - at the Eisteddfod.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24- He won three Crowns and a Chair.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26- He won the Crown - in Bangor in 1931.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29- His subject was Y Dyrfa - The Crowd.
0:10:32 > 0:10:38- The poem was about a rugby match, - Wales v England at Twickenham.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41- It was ground-breaking.
0:10:41 > 0:10:46- The thrills of the rugby field - came to the Crowning ceremony.
0:10:47 > 0:10:55- Nothing there seemed real - Except the ball I held.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05- Controversy surrounded - his winning of the Chair.
0:11:06 > 0:11:11- In the 1924 Pontypool Eisteddfod, - some said that he'd broken the rules.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15- He had employed metres - that were different to the norm.
0:11:15 > 0:11:20- Cynan wasn't the type to lose sleep - because of the debate!
0:11:34 > 0:11:37- In a lesser-known poem, - entitled Y Nasaread...
0:11:38 > 0:11:42- ..Cynan emphasizes that Jesus - was a man of flesh and blood.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46- He loved to go out and about - in the open air to preach...
0:11:47 > 0:11:52- ..whereas we are confined - within the chapel's four walls.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57- What he gained from the war - was a perspective on life.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59- He witnessed much suffering.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02- He saw men - battered by circumstances.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05- After the war, - I would have thought...
0:12:06 > 0:12:09- ..he returned as a tolerant - and broad-minded person.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12- He wasn't a saint or a puritan.
0:12:12 > 0:12:18- A great culture shock awaited him - when he became a minister.
0:12:18 > 0:12:23- He felt that religion was being - interpreted in a narrow-minded way.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26- It was sanctimonious, intolerant.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28- He conveys that type of religion...
0:12:28 > 0:12:32- ..and rebels against it - in the poem Y Nasaread.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36- I read that you took as your pulpit - A hillside or rocky shore
0:12:36 > 0:12:41- But we turn from sunshine to chapel - And shut every window and door.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43- Religion has become constricted.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55- I read, my Lord, in the Bible
0:12:55 > 0:12:58- How you turned Cana's water to wine
0:12:59 > 0:13:01- But I hear that you're now teetotal
0:13:02 > 0:13:04- And sour, banning all laughter.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12- I read that you took as your pulpit - A hillside or rocky shore
0:13:12 > 0:13:15- But we turn from sunshine to chapel
0:13:15 > 0:13:18- And shut every window and door.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25- I read of your friendship - with sinners
0:13:25 > 0:13:27- Zacchaeus and Magdalene
0:13:27 > 0:13:29- We sometimes elect him an elder
0:13:30 > 0:13:32- But her, we're sure to condemn.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43- I read of your challenge to lay down - My Life for your Kingdom, my Lord
0:13:43 > 0:13:46- Your chosen are still always asking
0:13:46 > 0:13:49- Will my soul be saved by the world?
0:13:55 > 0:13:57- Oh, Jesus who was from Nazareth
0:13:58 > 0:14:00- If today you came back to earth
0:14:00 > 0:14:03- Again you would be rejected
0:14:03 > 0:14:07- As our eyes - are still closed to your worth.
0:14:17 > 0:14:17- .
0:14:23 > 0:14:23- 888
0:14:23 > 0:14:25- 888- - 888
0:14:36 > 0:14:41- Cynan's poetry wasn't his only - contribution to the Eisteddfod.
0:14:44 > 0:14:49- In no time, he switched from being - a competitor to being Mr Gorsedd.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54- On becoming Recorder in 1935, - he began reforming the ceremonies.
0:14:55 > 0:15:00- He wrote the words - for the Chairing ceremony song.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02- He also set up the Floral Dance.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06- He created a colourful - and memorable ceremony.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19- The response to the changes - must have been favourable.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23- In 1950, he was made Archdruid.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25- It happened again in 1963.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29- He's the only one - to have been Archdruid twice.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35- We mainly associate him - with the Eisteddfod...
0:15:36 > 0:15:39- ..but he was involved - in many different fields.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42- He was appointed - by the Lord Chamberlain...
0:15:42 > 0:15:46- ..to be the censor - of Welsh-language plays.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50- He was also a playwright, - actor and drama lecturer.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00- There are amusing examples - of him censoring things.
0:16:01 > 0:16:06- Wil Sam wrote a play in the 1960s - called Y Gadair Olwyn.
0:16:06 > 0:16:11- In it, there was a line - about Ann Griffiths being horny.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15- On the copy of the script - sent to the Lord Chamberlain...
0:16:15 > 0:16:20- ..Cynan's translation was - that Ann Griffiths was "hot-assed"!
0:16:20 > 0:16:24- That phrase had to go - before the play could be performed.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33- But when you see Llyn Traffwll
0:16:36 > 0:16:40- Make your nest - in Glan Dwr's garden
0:16:40 > 0:16:44- It wasn't only the public arena - that attracted him.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47- He also loved to go fishing alone.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51- When he asks the bird, - the dear goldfinch...
0:16:51 > 0:16:54- ..to take a message - from the war to Wales...
0:16:54 > 0:16:57- ..he says that he'd give the world...
0:16:57 > 0:17:00- ..for half an hour - fishing in Traffwll...
0:17:00 > 0:17:02- ..far from the noise of the guns.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07- Today, on the tranquil banks - of Llyn Traffwll on Anglesey...
0:17:07 > 0:17:09- ..it's easy to understand why.
0:17:23 > 0:17:25- He liked to go fishing.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29- As a boy, he fished a lot - in Pwllheli harbour.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33- He was a very keen angler. - A rod and line man.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36- Sewin and salmon. - He was a good angler.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42- He obviously enjoyed - the peace and quiet of the river.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47- In contrast, a storm raged - at the end of the 1960s.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50- Wales was split into two camps.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53- Those for the Investiture, - and those against.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57- Cynan was a prominent supporter - of the Prince...
0:17:57 > 0:18:01- ..at the Investiture in Caernarfon - and at the Eisteddfod in Flint.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04- That year, he dropped the Mr...
0:18:04 > 0:18:06- ..and became a Sir.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09- Sir Cynan Evans-Jones.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14- The service of princes - saves a language from injury.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18- For many centuries...
0:18:19 > 0:18:22- ..no more princely service - has been offered...
0:18:23 > 0:18:26- ..to the Welsh language - than by your good self.
0:18:31 > 0:18:36- Gerallt Lloyd Owen's poem - described the Prince as a foreigner.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39- That was the view - of the younger generation.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43- They were consciously - nationalist in outlook.
0:18:43 > 0:18:48- Gwynfor Evans had become - the first Plaid Cymru MP in 1966.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51- A very different Wales - was emerging at that time.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55- I believe that Cynan, - possibly, was out of touch...
0:18:55 > 0:18:58- ..with the new, developing Wales.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02- He was seen increasingly - as a figure from a bygone Wales.
0:19:07 > 0:19:12- That was a potted biography - of Cynan, who died in 1970.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16- He's buried at Llantysilio church - on the banks of the Menai.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19- He was a man at ease - on the great public stage...
0:19:19 > 0:19:25- ..but also a man - who longed to leave it all behind.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43- It's evident that Cynan - held a magnetic appeal.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48- He had an aura about him.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52- People were keen to see him, - and to share his company.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56- There's a story - which reflects this rather well.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00- It's a description - by the actress Marged Esli.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04- Her mother and aunts - were arguing in a chapel...
0:20:04 > 0:20:08- ..about who was to serve - tea and scones to Cynan.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11- Marged Esli - describes him well.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13- A celeb with substance.
0:20:13 > 0:20:18- In modern parlance, - Cynan definitely had the X factor.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42- When I am old and famous
0:20:42 > 0:20:44- With money in my purse
0:20:44 > 0:20:48- And all my critics silenced - For better or for worse.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53- I'll buy me a lonely cottage - And at its door shall be
0:20:53 > 0:20:56- The rocks of Aberdaron
0:20:56 > 0:20:58- And the wild waves of the sea.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13- When I am old and famous
0:21:13 > 0:21:15- A respected pantaloon
0:21:15 > 0:21:18- And my rebel heart lies placid
0:21:18 > 0:21:20- At the rising of the moon
0:21:21 > 0:21:23- I still may be a poet
0:21:23 > 0:21:25- And you still may hope for me
0:21:25 > 0:21:28- By the rocks of Aberdaron
0:21:28 > 0:21:30- And the wild waves of the sea.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39- When I am old and famous
0:21:39 > 0:21:42- Conforming to the times
0:21:42 > 0:21:44- My songs are nicely patterned
0:21:45 > 0:21:47- To tinkling little rhymes
0:21:48 > 0:21:50- I still may be a poet
0:21:50 > 0:21:52- And you still may hope for me
0:21:52 > 0:21:55- By the rocks of Aberdaron
0:21:55 > 0:21:58- And the wild waves of the sea.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07- For there I'll stand and listen
0:22:07 > 0:22:10- To the stormwind at my door
0:22:10 > 0:22:12- Until my heart recaptures
0:22:13 > 0:22:15- Its rebel song of yore
0:22:16 > 0:22:20- And I'll sing again with passion
0:22:20 > 0:22:23- And all my songs shall be
0:22:24 > 0:22:26- Of the rocks of Aberdaron
0:22:26 > 0:22:29- And the wild waves of the sea.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58- S4C Subtitles by Adnod Cyf.
0:22:58 > 0:22:58- .