0:00:23 > 0:00:25- These things happened - in the Grwyne Fawr valley.
0:00:25 > 0:00:31- TJ Morgan was over the mountain - in the Grwyne Fechan valley
0:00:32 > 0:00:37- on Friday, 3rd February 1939, - in the snow storms.
0:00:37 > 0:00:42- This was just before something quite - important happened on the continent.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45- This is what he said. - "I stopped at the first small
0:00:45 > 0:00:48- holding I could find - "where there remained one of the
0:00:48 > 0:00:51- last who could still speak Welsh. - "He was busy chopping wood
0:00:52 > 0:00:55- at the back of his holding. - "I appeared to me at the time like
0:00:55 > 0:00:58- a task that predated the earliest
0:00:58 > 0:01:00- "achievements of humankind. - "This was the first person I met
0:01:00 > 0:01:03- after I'd left Crickhowell - "and he looked like the first
0:01:03 > 0:01:12- man to walk the earth."
0:01:13 > 0:01:16- "I greeted him in Welsh - "and his surprise was greater
0:01:16 > 0:01:20- than any I have ever seen. - "Despite my greeting him in Welsh,
0:01:20 > 0:01:21- he enquired whether
0:01:21 > 0:01:24- "I was a Welshman. - "He was puzzled and amazed to find
0:01:24 > 0:01:25- a young man who could
0:01:26 > 0:01:36- "speak the language."
0:01:41 > 0:01:44- a recording of these last speakers
0:01:45 > 0:01:49- of the language in the area. - He goes on to say,
0:01:50 > 0:01:58- "When I explained my intention,
0:01:58 > 0:02:01- "the man looked at me - "as if I was daft as I expounded
0:02:01 > 0:02:05- on the importance of retaining - "a record of his dialect
0:02:05 > 0:02:10- for the generations to come. - "His eyes were lowered
0:02:10 > 0:02:14- and he was stroking
0:02:14 > 0:02:25- "the fur on his sheepdog." - Here is that recording.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29- "You haven't got anyone - left in the house."
0:02:29 > 0:02:32- "Yes, I have a wife." - "She's still alive?"
0:02:32 > 0:02:34- "Yes, I'm on my second - wife, you know."
0:02:34 > 0:02:40- "Oh, really?" - "I've had two sets of children."
0:02:40 > 0:02:44- "Where do you get your - water, I forgot to ask?"
0:02:44 > 0:02:50- "We get slopwater from the river, - but we have a well for clean water."
0:02:50 > 0:02:56- "Is it far from the house?" - "About a hundred yards.
0:02:56 > 0:03:06- We must stop now."
0:03:09 > 0:03:15- to hearing the tape for me.
0:03:15 > 0:03:21- The final sentence is unclear. - It could be, "Can we stop now?"
0:03:21 > 0:03:27- Or more like, "We must stop now." - It meant nothing at the time,
0:03:27 > 0:03:31- just a way of stopping - the recording,
0:03:31 > 0:03:34- but for us listening to it - in the next century,
0:03:34 > 0:03:40- the next valley of time - along, it's eerie.
0:03:40 > 0:03:46- This is how TJ Morgan wraps - up his visit to the Grwyne Fechan.
0:03:46 > 0:03:52- "I felt a huge pang of sadness that, - like looking into a mirror,
0:03:52 > 0:03:56- "I had spoken to some of the final - speakers of the language.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00- "When the language will finally - cease to exist I cannot predict,
0:04:00 > 0:04:05- "nor where it will be, - Ceredigion perhaps, or Anglesey,
0:04:05 > 0:04:09- "in the 21st century perhaps, - "but I have already witnessed
0:04:09 > 0:04:16- it at Grwyne Fechan. - "The next time I visit, the language
0:04:16 > 0:04:22- may have died - "as the five speakers that remain
0:04:22 > 0:04:31- are all in their eighties." - That was twelve miles
0:04:31 > 0:04:38- away from here, in 1939.
0:04:38 > 0:04:53- # I remember when everyone was Welsh - # But now the flour bag is empty
0:04:53 > 0:05:03- # Ffal di ral, di rol. # - # But now the flour bag is empty
0:05:06 > 0:05:09- to lose ground.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11- When for years, you've been around. - It's sad when there's no
0:05:11 > 0:05:14- more work to be done. - Saddest of all is the death
0:05:14 > 0:05:17- of your mother tongue.
0:05:17 > 0:05:28- # The old mill is broken down - # We must make an end right now
0:05:29 > 0:05:39- # Ffal di ral, di rol. # - # We must make an end right now
0:05:43 > 0:05:45- has come to a stop - But now, there's a new
0:05:45 > 0:05:52- mill filled to the top
0:05:52 > 0:05:54- My name is Catrin. - My name is Jenny.
0:05:54 > 0:06:00- Welsh is our language - at school in Abergavenny.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08- in everything. - He was happy to share
0:06:08 > 0:06:11- his knowledge, too. - He wasn't one of those people
0:06:11 > 0:06:14- who hoarded his wisdom - for his own personal
0:06:14 > 0:06:22- gain, or for a college. - Generosity was the first word that
0:06:22 > 0:06:25- came into my mind when someone
0:06:25 > 0:06:39- asked me to sum up his character. - He was generous with his genius.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42- asked me to sum up his character. - He was generous with his genius.- - I think he subscribed - to the old idea that if you had
0:06:42 > 0:06:45- the honour of being a scholar at one - of the Welsh universities
0:06:45 > 0:06:47- you had an obligation - to share your knowledge
0:06:47 > 0:06:49- with the nation. - Gruffudd Aled Williams,
0:06:49 > 0:06:51- you were the only one amongst us - to experience Gwyn Thomas
0:06:51 > 0:06:55- as a cricketer. - They do say that cricket is a sport
0:06:55 > 0:07:00- for the upper classes. - I wouldn't associate this
0:07:00 > 0:07:03- particular team with
0:07:03 > 0:07:11- the upper classes. - Gwyn, in particular,
0:07:11 > 0:07:13- was the type of fast - bowler who aimed more
0:07:13 > 0:07:18- at the batsman that at the wicket. - I can still conjure up
0:07:18 > 0:07:21- the images of Gwyn hitting - a player at the university,
0:07:21 > 0:07:27- a very good batsman at that.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30- He hit him on the head. - That particular student went
0:07:30 > 0:07:33- on to become a famous broadcast - journalist, but Gwyn
0:07:33 > 0:07:37- almost killed him. - We tend to think of Gwyn
0:07:37 > 0:07:40- as a free-verse poet,
0:07:40 > 0:07:42- but I think his influence - extended well beyond that particular
0:07:42 > 0:07:49- field in the Welsh language. - He had a big influence on strict
0:07:49 > 0:07:55- metre and Cynghanedd as well. - If you look in particular
0:07:55 > 0:07:58- at Ceri Wyn Jones' Chair-winning ode - a couple of years ago, you can see
0:07:58 > 0:08:02- strains of Gwyn's influence in terms - of its adventurous approach
0:08:02 > 0:08:04- to structure and use of dialect.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07- And the use of unpoetic language. - That was the kind of thing
0:08:07 > 0:08:10- Gwyn had championed. - We have to remember just how much
0:08:10 > 0:08:13- influence he had on all kinds
0:08:13 > 0:08:20- of poetry in the Welsh language. - Anyone who thinks of Gwyn
0:08:20 > 0:08:23- as a simplistic poet, is way
0:08:23 > 0:08:24- off the mark. - You can read his work at that level
0:08:24 > 0:08:28- if you choose, but he can also be - as abstruse and difficult
0:08:28 > 0:08:31- as you want to make him. - He was a scholarly poet,
0:08:31 > 0:08:35- and it is in the scholarly strain - of the poetry that his
0:08:35 > 0:08:37- greatness resides. - I'd go so far as to say
0:08:37 > 0:08:41- that our modern 21st-century poets - in free verse and strict metre
0:08:41 > 0:08:44- could not do what they do - without the contributions made
0:08:44 > 0:08:47- by Gwyn Thomas in the second half
0:08:47 > 0:08:53- of the 20th venture. - The language would not be
0:08:53 > 0:08:55- in its current literary shape - and substance without the example
0:08:55 > 0:09:03- set by Gwyn Thomas. - Raymond Williams was a literary
0:09:03 > 0:09:06- critic and novelist from Pandy,
0:09:06 > 0:09:11- just north of here. - He is positioned on the left
0:09:11 > 0:09:13- politically, - and as a Marxist
0:09:13 > 0:09:16- in his literary criticism. - He was born in 1921 and he went
0:09:16 > 0:09:19- to college in Cambridge
0:09:19 > 0:09:23- at the end of the '30s. - He fought on the beaches of Normandy
0:09:23 > 0:09:26- during World War II. - He worked in the field of adult
0:09:26 > 0:09:29- education in south-east England - before spending 30 years as a drama
0:09:29 > 0:09:34- professor at Cambridge. - Culture and Society was his
0:09:34 > 0:09:39- breakthrough publication. - It was a hugely influential book,
0:09:39 > 0:09:42- attempting to map out the history
0:09:42 > 0:09:48- of culture in Britain. - Williams' core belief that
0:09:48 > 0:09:51- all culture was ordinary was very
0:09:51 > 0:09:56- challenging at that time. - It rebuked the beliefs of Victorian
0:09:56 > 0:09:59- liberals like Matthew Arnold that - culture was something intrinsically
0:09:59 > 0:10:02- superior that needed to be foisted - upon an uncouth,
0:10:02 > 0:10:08- uneducated population. - It also challenged the beliefs
0:10:08 > 0:10:10- of contemporary conservatives - like TS Eliot and Saunders Lewis
0:10:10 > 0:10:13- that culture was something to be - protected and treasured by a small
0:10:13 > 0:10:15- elite
0:10:15 > 0:10:19- from the upper echelons of society. - Williams argued that culture
0:10:19 > 0:10:21- permeated throughout every layer - of society and that the values
0:10:21 > 0:10:24- of the communal cultural experiences - of the lower classes were, in fact,
0:10:24 > 0:10:28- a better foundation for the nation - than the competitive,
0:10:28 > 0:10:30- elitist model of culture championed
0:10:30 > 0:10:36- by the upper classes. - The book's publication coincided
0:10:36 > 0:10:38- with the National Eisteddfod
0:10:38 > 0:10:41- at Ebbw Vale in 1958. - A very rare visit for the event
0:10:41 > 0:10:45- in his Monmouthshire. - Fittingly perhaps, his work
0:10:45 > 0:10:47- was criticised as
0:10:47 > 0:10:53- "radical Eisteddfod-ism". - Whatever you make of that,
0:10:53 > 0:10:57- Williams championed culture - as an all-consuming experience.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00- A whole way of life. - He was fairly blinkered
0:11:00 > 0:11:02- to the challenge these early - theories presented in
0:11:02 > 0:11:06- terms of nationalism. - He actually admitted that, "My
0:11:06 > 0:11:09- distance from Wales was at its most - complete", when he was writing
0:11:09 > 0:11:18- Culture and Society. - The unconscious subtext
0:11:18 > 0:11:19- was inevitably a championing
0:11:19 > 0:11:23- of Britishness. - However, by the time he published
0:11:23 > 0:11:26- The Country and the City in 1973, - his Welsh identity
0:11:26 > 0:11:28- had come to the fore. - The complexities of living
0:11:28 > 0:11:31- on the border and experiencing - the clash of two languages
0:11:31 > 0:11:35- and cultures had weakened his - commitment to one
0:11:35 > 0:11:42- all-encompassing culture. - Diversity and the right to sustain
0:11:42 > 0:11:45- differences of cultural identity - were now emphasised by Raymond
0:11:45 > 0:11:48- Williams. - His experience of life
0:11:48 > 0:11:51- on the border was now a basis - for the understanding,
0:11:51 > 0:11:53- comparing and contrasting - with the troubles of other
0:11:53 > 0:12:01- endangered societies. - Next, a piece on the topic,
0:12:01 > 0:12:08- the burger van owner. - From the Aberhafren team,
0:12:08 > 0:12:13- Aron Pritchard. - Between two dry buns,
0:12:13 > 0:12:17- he was soldered. - Through the hearse's
0:12:17 > 0:12:21- hatch was he ejected. - In a square of cheese with a squirt
0:12:21 > 0:12:28- of sauce, he was interred.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43- Gwennan Evans. - His hygiene scores
0:12:43 > 0:12:45- were incredibly low. - Bethel's graves,
0:12:45 > 0:12:47- he filled, toe to toe. - But to the crem he went,
0:12:47 > 0:12:51- to roast below.
0:12:51 > 0:12:52- .
0:13:23 > 0:13:25- the Chair was Inheritance. - Jams Nicholas, Ieuan Wyn
0:13:25 > 0:13:28- and Idris Reynolds were the judges. - What do you remember
0:13:28 > 0:13:30- of that day, Ceri? - It was a big day
0:13:30 > 0:13:34- in a big week for me. - Four or five us had hired
0:13:34 > 0:13:37- a cottage in Llanfachreth. - I remember it being
0:13:37 > 0:13:40- a week of late nights. - We were playing about and having
0:13:40 > 0:13:44- ad-hoc poetry competitions. - On the day itself, there were other
0:13:44 > 0:13:45- things on my mind apart
0:13:45 > 0:13:55- from the Chairing ceremony.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01- at lunchtime.
0:14:01 > 0:14:08- Cor Cantorion Teifi. - We had to rehearse and perform.
0:14:08 > 0:14:13- Then I literally had to run over - to the Literature Tent because my
0:14:13 > 0:14:18- team, the Carmarthenshire team, - had reached the final
0:14:18 > 0:14:21- of the ymryson. - We actually managed to win
0:14:21 > 0:14:26- and I had to be there to lift
0:14:26 > 0:14:31- the trophy for the team. - I have no idea who I
0:14:31 > 0:14:35- gave that trophy to. - I sprinted out of the Literature
0:14:35 > 0:14:39- Tent and headed for the Pavilion. - I was late and there
0:14:39 > 0:14:43- was a queue waiting to get in. - I joined the queue and no-one, apart
0:14:43 > 0:14:49- from me, knew I'd won the Chair. - Somehow, you still felt
0:14:49 > 0:14:55- that everyone knew. - No-one knew me that time
0:14:55 > 0:14:57- and they didn't know. - The queue got shorter and shorter
0:14:57 > 0:15:00- and shorter until they closed
0:15:00 > 0:15:07- the doors with a bang. - They said the ceremony
0:15:07 > 0:15:10- was about to begin.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13- No-one else was allowed in. - I foresaw that this arrangement
0:15:13 > 0:15:18- would cause the Eisteddfod
0:15:18 > 0:15:21- officials a few difficulties. - Emyr Y Graig had
0:15:21 > 0:15:24- joined me by this time. - We looked for alternative entry
0:15:24 > 0:15:28- points. - This was before the time
0:15:28 > 0:15:31- of the pink Pavilion, even. - We knew of a place where we could
0:15:31 > 0:15:37- sneak in and we tried our luck - before coming up against the most
0:15:37 > 0:15:41- terrifying sight in any Eisteddfod,
0:15:41 > 0:15:45- the green jacket of a steward. - He also told us that
0:15:45 > 0:15:50- we couldn't get in. - I had to reveal
0:15:50 > 0:15:55- the big secret to him. - I won't tell you
0:15:55 > 0:15:57- exactly what he said. - This place isn't really used
0:15:57 > 0:16:07- to that type of language.
0:16:08 > 0:16:14- he said "Yes, yes, now **** off".
0:16:14 > 0:16:19- what he said and get out. - However, some miracle meant
0:16:19 > 0:16:29- that the electricity had failed
0:16:30 > 0:16:32- the organ wasn't working. - The ceremony had to be
0:16:32 > 0:16:36- delayed for ten minutes. - That meant I could queue, get in,
0:16:36 > 0:16:42- take my seat and be ready
0:16:42 > 0:16:51- without breaking any of the rules. - Just for those who aren't familiar
0:16:51 > 0:16:58- with the topic of "Y Dydd Olaf", - is there a way of
0:16:58 > 0:16:59- summing up its message? - It's a warning to us
0:16:59 > 0:17:02- about what would remain - after a nuclear war where everything
0:17:02 > 0:17:05- is reduced to one mass of grey
0:17:05 > 0:17:06- totalitarian matter. - However, there is a ray of hope
0:17:06 > 0:17:12- for evolution thanks to the one - Welsh book surviving the Holocaust
0:17:12 > 0:17:15- because it didn't go - through the English system,
0:17:16 > 0:17:17- where all literature would be
0:17:17 > 0:17:23- censored like they are in 1984, say. - Seeds of hope for civilisation that
0:17:23 > 0:17:32- could bloom after this disaster.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41- you and you've seen ways of turning - them to your individual
0:17:41 > 0:17:47- style of music. - How do you go about interpreting
0:17:48 > 0:17:52- Owain Owain's work musically?
0:17:52 > 0:17:59- That's a good question. - Emotion is very important.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03- But we wanted the words - to inspire discussion.
0:18:04 > 0:18:12- We were trying to steer away - from making the story too personal.
0:18:12 > 0:18:19- I was trying to represent - the world around me.
0:18:19 > 0:18:26- Personally, my process involves - writing down a lot of words over
0:18:26 > 0:18:31- a long period. - The music then arrives and it's
0:18:31 > 0:18:36- a cut-and-paste process from there. - It's difficult to explain
0:18:36 > 0:18:38- how the words and music
0:18:38 > 0:18:42- are joined together. - It just happens, really,
0:18:42 > 0:18:52- but the style was important. - Gwenno has followed the hypnotic
0:18:52 > 0:18:54- pattern of the same people - in the same place,
0:18:54 > 0:19:00- doing the same things. - The book is about the end of nations
0:19:00 > 0:19:04- and the end of humanity. - She's done that
0:19:04 > 0:19:08- amazingly successfully. - Two years before writing,
0:19:08 > 0:19:14- Doctor Who came out. - It had this synth doing
0:19:14 > 0:19:21- fantastic electronic music. - You have that, but you add elements
0:19:21 > 0:19:24- of Joan Baez or Dafydd Iwan.
0:19:24 > 0:19:30- You also change the order of things. - In 1902, he publishes, Y Wenhwyseg,
0:19:31 > 0:19:35- A Key to the Phonology - of the Gwentian Dialect.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39- That title might suggest - that the author was aiming his work
0:19:39 > 0:19:42- at the academic community. - Actually, this was a booklet
0:19:42 > 0:19:46- aimed at school teachers. - Teachers who taught Welsh
0:19:46 > 0:19:50- in Gwent and Glamorgan. - It is only 30 pages in length
0:19:50 > 0:19:54- and it's both significant
0:19:54 > 0:19:58- and ground-breaking. - Griffith in his foreword says
0:19:58 > 0:20:01- the context for it was that 500,000 - people in Wales spoke
0:20:01 > 0:20:05- the Wenhwyseg dialect. - He also claimed that it had
0:20:05 > 0:20:08- an influence on a further
0:20:08 > 0:20:10- 500,00 Welsh speakers. - Griffith maintains
0:20:10 > 0:20:12- a straight-forward - relationship between dialect
0:20:12 > 0:20:15- and more formal spoken language. - He says that teachers hoping
0:20:15 > 0:20:18- to teach the formal spoken language - must have a knowledge of the spoken
0:20:18 > 0:20:25- dialect of their pupils. - Over a century has passed
0:20:25 > 0:20:28- since Griffith published his booklet
0:20:28 > 0:20:30- about the Wenhwyseg. - Since he predicted the future,
0:20:30 > 0:20:32- let's take a look at
0:20:32 > 0:20:35- what actually happened. - Griffith was completely
0:20:35 > 0:20:40- mistaken in his faith
0:20:40 > 0:20:42- in the strength of the Wenhwyseg. - Despite the hundreds of thousands
0:20:42 > 0:20:44- who spoke it at the start - of the 20th century,
0:20:44 > 0:20:47- it was very nearly extinct by the
0:20:47 > 0:20:49- end of the century. - That didn't mean that Welsh
0:20:49 > 0:20:53- was extinct in the South-East. - However, Wenhwyseg isn't the mother
0:20:53 > 0:20:55- tongue of the people
0:20:55 > 0:20:58- of this area today. - However, the most abiding belief
0:20:58 > 0:21:02- in the importance of understanding - the local dialect before teaching
0:21:02 > 0:21:05- formal spoken language has endured. - Especially the acceptance
0:21:05 > 0:21:11- of pretty low-grade
0:21:11 > 0:21:17- language without criticism. - Speakers of the modern dialects
0:21:17 > 0:21:20- of the South-East are often berated. - Some are criticized for not speaking
0:21:20 > 0:21:25- the traditional Wenhwyseg - without ever getting an explanation
0:21:25 > 0:21:28- of how exactly they could have
0:21:28 > 0:21:30- picked it up. - A few months ago even,
0:21:30 > 0:21:33- one cultural commentator described - the speech pattern of the pupils
0:21:33 > 0:21:37- in welsh-language schools - of South-East Wales as a mishmash
0:21:37 > 0:21:41- of the dialects they'd heard - from all their teachers
0:21:41 > 0:21:47- from different parts of Wales. - To me, that would seem
0:21:47 > 0:21:53- blatantly obvious. - The disappearance of Wenhwyseg
0:21:53 > 0:22:00- from its areas of strength is sad, - but that isn't the fault
0:22:00 > 0:22:05- of modern-day schoolchildren. - They aren't the ones who failed
0:22:05 > 0:22:08- to pass the language on to the next
0:22:08 > 0:22:09- generation for whatever reason. - Since their teachers come
0:22:09 > 0:22:14- from different areas of Wales, - it is inevitable that
0:22:14 > 0:22:20- their language will reflect that. - We should rather celebrate
0:22:20 > 0:22:23- the emergence of a new dialect. - Let's turn our attention
0:22:23 > 0:22:25- to Nia Ben Aur. - It first appeared at
0:22:25 > 0:22:28- the Carmarthen Eisteddfod in 1974. - It was a rock opera and it gave
0:22:28 > 0:22:30- you rockers your first opportunity
0:22:30 > 0:22:33- to appear on the national stage. - That was ground-breaking
0:22:33 > 0:22:36- for its time.
0:22:36 > 0:22:37- You were Nia Ben Aur.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39- The rock thing - hadn't really taken off
0:22:39 > 0:22:43- then in the early '70s. - We were trying to do stuff,
0:22:43 > 0:22:45- but they weren't really
0:22:45 > 0:22:48- going down that well. - People like Dewi liked
0:22:48 > 0:22:52- to hear me singing folk songs. - I was quite lucky that my songs
0:22:52 > 0:22:55- in Nia Ben Aur weren't
0:22:55 > 0:22:59- that rock-based, really. - Your song was the big one,
0:22:59 > 0:23:03- Ri ri ri, Brenin Tir Na Nog. - Some songs have emerged from that
0:23:03 > 0:23:06- show that are beautiful
0:23:06 > 0:23:10- and live on today. - I don't sing many of my songs any
0:23:10 > 0:23:14- more, but I love Cwsg Osian
0:23:14 > 0:23:18- and I sing that all the time.
0:23:21 > 0:23:26- was a shambles. - You know the radio mics
0:23:26 > 0:23:31- you wear these days?
0:23:31 > 0:23:34- Well, you and Cleif and me had them, - but neither of yours
0:23:34 > 0:23:37- actually worked. - I was lucky, or at least I thought
0:23:38 > 0:23:40- so, people could actually hear me - singing, Ri ri ri,
0:23:41 > 0:23:42- Brenin Tir Na Nog.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45- I couldn't possibly sing that now. - My story was about that time
0:23:45 > 0:23:49- and it was a world of being cool - and hippies and all that.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53- Now, you'll remember this, - there was a guy backstage
0:23:53 > 0:23:58- called Arthur Brown. - He was a complete nutter.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01- He was on Top of the - Pops and everything.
0:24:01 > 0:24:06- His act involved him coming on stage - into a circle of fire.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10- He'd sing, "Fire! - I beg you to burn".
0:24:10 > 0:24:19- He was there backstage. - You're late, have you got a note?
0:24:19 > 0:24:23- We had Arthur Brown with - us backstage.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26- Wow! - I just said, "Arthur Brown!"
0:24:26 > 0:24:30- And he said, "Yeah, that's right". - "What are you doing here?"
0:24:30 > 0:24:35- "I'm just picking up - the Celtic vibes, man."
0:24:35 > 0:24:43- And I thought, "What an idiot!" - That was Arthur Brown for you.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46- I remember I was given - a police escort one evening
0:24:46 > 0:24:49- because I was double-booked. - That didn't go down that well
0:24:49 > 0:24:53- with Dewi and a few others. - I was doing something
0:24:53 > 0:24:56- on the fringes of the college,
0:24:56 > 0:24:59- Beca and her Children. - Wynford Ellis Owen was worried
0:24:59 > 0:25:02- I wouldn't get to the
0:25:02 > 0:25:04- Eisteddfod in time. - I was given a police escort
0:25:04 > 0:25:07- from the college to
0:25:07 > 0:25:11- the Eisteddfod site. - There was no other traffic
0:25:11 > 0:25:14- on the road at all. - I was embarrassed, but having
0:25:14 > 0:25:19- the police was good fun.
0:25:19 > 0:25:19- .
0:25:51 > 0:25:54- the invitation came, - I was a little hesitant in accepting
0:25:54 > 0:25:56- the invitation, having disappointed
0:25:56 > 0:26:01- so many bards last year. - Life just hasn't been the same.
0:26:01 > 0:26:07- There are some chaired bards - who are cutting me dead,
0:26:08 > 0:26:11- and of course, I did something - very foolish last year,
0:26:11 > 0:26:21- I ignored the works entirely of one - very famous family of bards.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26- the Welsh bardic equivalent
0:26:33 > 0:26:43- of the Mafia.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48- to mock the literature and certainly - some of the poetry
0:26:48 > 0:26:52- of the 19th Century. - There has been plenty said
0:26:52 > 0:27:00- about the questionable judging - standards and poetic output
0:27:00 > 0:27:05- of that century. - We must remember, however,
0:27:05 > 0:27:09- the contributions of - Hywel Teifi Edwards and E G Milward
0:27:09 > 0:27:13- in teaching us how to read - the literary works of that time
0:27:13 > 0:27:16- in the context of the Victorian
0:27:16 > 0:27:23- world it was born out of. - It was also, of course,
0:27:23 > 0:27:27- the most revolutionary - and distorting age in
0:27:27 > 0:27:29- the history of Wales. - We have read this literature
0:27:29 > 0:27:34- in that particular context. - However, having said that,
0:27:34 > 0:27:37- I have to admit that reading - through the Crown-winning poems
0:27:37 > 0:27:40- of that time was a huge slog. - By the 1890s, trying to read these
0:27:40 > 0:27:46- Crown-winning masterpieces - is akin to trying to
0:27:46 > 0:27:54- swim through treacle. - In making an attempt
0:27:54 > 0:27:58- to pinpoint the worst
0:28:00 > 0:28:05- to say - that the 1890s is the decade that
0:28:05 > 0:28:14- offers the most promise.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19- to one reading these poems
0:28:19 > 0:28:28- is their unrelenting vastness.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33- lines and most were much closer
0:28:33 > 0:28:38- to 2,000 lines in length. - To steal an English expression
0:28:38 > 0:28:44- in terms of Victorian Crown-winning - poetry length, size and proportion
0:28:44 > 0:28:50- certainly mattered.
0:28:50 > 0:28:52- certainly mattered.- - I have a brainwave.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56- I believe that in some brave - new Wales of the future, these times
0:28:56 > 0:28:59- can be put to use in terms of - criminal punishment.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03- I think I can think of a much more - painful punishment than sending
0:29:03 > 0:29:06- criminals to prison. - I would force them to memorise huge
0:29:06 > 0:29:16- tracts of these poems by heart. - One Crown-winning poem
0:29:16 > 0:29:20- for a first offence,
0:29:20 > 0:29:22- two for a second offence - and those repeat offenders
0:29:22 > 0:29:26- who would not learn their lesson, - all the works of Iolo Caernarfon,
0:29:26 > 0:29:34- Wylfa and Ben Davies combined. - What about that,
0:29:34 > 0:29:37- Judge Nicholas Parry?
0:29:41 > 0:29:43- doubt and disparagement
0:29:43 > 0:29:51- about her character? - There is a gamut of reasons.
0:29:51 > 0:29:55- They are all listed in the book. - She came from a very proletarian
0:29:55 > 0:29:59- family. - There's no father's name listed
0:29:59 > 0:30:05- on her birth certificate. - A great number of her family,
0:30:05 > 0:30:08- in fact, seem to have grown up
0:30:08 > 0:30:14- without a father on the scene. - She said that she came
0:30:14 > 0:30:17- from a family of women.
0:30:17 > 0:30:20- They were a very poor family. - She went away to London and attended
0:30:20 > 0:30:29- a private boarding school. - There are a lot of
0:30:29 > 0:30:34- mysteries about her. - She wanted to write poetry,
0:30:34 > 0:30:40- but we are talking about a period - in the '60s where people weren't
0:30:40 > 0:30:45- ready to accept that
0:30:45 > 0:30:52- women could write poetry. - It makes you laugh now.
0:30:53 > 0:30:59- When she won, it was a real shock - to the establishment.
0:30:59 > 0:31:05- A woman had won and a woman - who hadn't even been to college.
0:31:05 > 0:31:12- There was a certain type of woman - who did win crowns here and there.
0:31:12 > 0:31:17- She was also unmarried, - which some people found suspicious.
0:31:17 > 0:31:23- She didn't fit any - particular pattern in 1967.
0:31:24 > 0:31:29- She beat Mathonwy Hughes into third - place, who was an established poet
0:31:29 > 0:31:36- with a Chair under his belt. - People seemed to think
0:31:36 > 0:31:40- she'd got in his way. - There were a few reports
0:31:40 > 0:31:44- that worded it that way. - That's despite the fact that she had
0:31:44 > 0:31:47- also come second with
0:31:47 > 0:31:52- a poem about Edith Piaf. - The poem was in one of the bundles
0:31:52 > 0:31:55- that came into our possession. - The thing that has
0:31:55 > 0:31:58- struck me and a few - others this week is that you,
0:31:58 > 0:32:02- as a poet, and Eurig Salisbury, - who is also a poet, are winning
0:32:02 > 0:32:10- prizes with fictional prose. - Last year, Manon Rhys,
0:32:10 > 0:32:13- who is most known for prose,
0:32:13 > 0:32:19- won the Crown. - The chaired bard, Ifor ap Glyn,
0:32:19 > 0:32:23- published a novel earlier this year. - Is there something unusual happening
0:32:23 > 0:32:29- here? - Is bursting through these imagined
0:32:29 > 0:32:33- barriers a good thing? - I was delighted to see
0:32:33 > 0:32:36- Manon winning last year,
0:32:36 > 0:32:39- moving from prose to poetry. - Although one is happy to see
0:32:39 > 0:32:42- Eurig winning the prose - medal, there was a feeling
0:32:42 > 0:32:44- that the movement was away
0:32:44 > 0:32:54- from poetry, towards prose. - There are other examples
0:32:55 > 0:32:56- beyond the ones you mentioned.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00- Twm Morys, Ifor ap Glyn, - all much better poets
0:33:00 > 0:33:03- than me, moving into prose.
0:33:03 > 0:33:10- Why? - Is poetry somehow incapable
0:33:10 > 0:33:12- of hitting the right notes
0:33:12 > 0:33:22- that prose offers?
0:33:27 > 0:33:33- and poetry is very different. - Prose sells much more
0:33:33 > 0:33:36- strongly than poetry. - There's the idea that
0:33:36 > 0:33:42- prose sets the Zeitgeist
0:33:42 > 0:33:45- rather than poetry. - Publishing a novel affords
0:33:45 > 0:33:51- different opportunities. - By publishing a novel,
0:33:51 > 0:33:54- you are asking the reader to spend
0:33:54 > 0:33:58- a fortnight in your company. - It has a great effect on people.
0:33:58 > 0:34:03- Then again, I'm sure winning - the Crown will have a greater
0:34:03 > 0:34:10- influence on my life because poetry - still carries a greater
0:34:10 > 0:34:18- intellectual weight somehow. - Winning the Crown was like being
0:34:18 > 0:34:21- carried on a wave of appreciation, - especially in my particular
0:34:21 > 0:34:28- area, if not nationally. - The respect afforded to poets
0:34:28 > 0:34:32- is a huge responsibility,
0:34:32 > 0:34:37- as well as a pleasure. - I'll be interested to see
0:34:37 > 0:34:43- what reaction I get
0:34:43 > 0:34:49- to publishing a novel. - I hope I've been true
0:34:49 > 0:34:51- to the experience of going - through radiotherapy and I hope it
0:34:51 > 0:34:54- helps other people experiencing
0:34:54 > 0:34:56- the same kinds of treatment. - The way in which poetry and prose
0:34:56 > 0:35:03- connect with their audiences
0:35:03 > 0:35:05- are very different. - I feel that the true home
0:35:05 > 0:35:08- of poetry is on the stage,
0:35:08 > 0:35:12- in front of a microphone. - A novel belongs at home on the sofa.
0:35:12 > 0:35:17- That's why they are such - different experiences.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26- business of reciting. - I want to talk about
0:35:26 > 0:35:29- the business of recitation. - It's a pretty profitable business
0:35:29 > 0:35:32- for you three, going from
0:35:32 > 0:35:35- Eisteddfod to Eisteddfod. - How did it work, did you share out
0:35:35 > 0:35:39- the prizes between you?
0:35:39 > 0:35:42- No, we never shared at all. - When we started, the prizes
0:35:42 > 0:35:47- were in little bags
0:35:47 > 0:35:51- hanging from the pulpits. - We never shared because we lost more
0:35:51 > 0:36:01- often than not.
0:36:01 > 0:36:08- One of these might win instead. - It didn't really matter who won.
0:36:08 > 0:36:11- I managed to buy my first car - on the back of going around
0:36:11 > 0:36:14- all the little Eisteddfodau - in my father's car for free
0:36:14 > 0:36:19- for helping on the haymaking. - I bought my first car
0:36:19 > 0:36:29- with no-one less than
0:36:36 > 0:36:39- between our ages to ensure - that we were never really
0:36:39 > 0:36:43- competing against each other.
0:36:43 > 0:36:48- We were losing to other people. - The first time I recited,
0:36:48 > 0:36:52- I lost out to John. - I didn't know he was going
0:36:52 > 0:36:57- to compete against me. - It was a poem about Teddy and I'd
0:36:57 > 0:37:00- been on a milking stool - rehearsing and he'd been
0:37:00 > 0:37:03- on the couch listening. - We went to the Eisteddfod
0:37:03 > 0:37:07- and when I walked up to compete, - the first thing I saw was John
0:37:07 > 0:37:11- following me onto the stage.
0:37:11 > 0:37:16- Mum told me to let him try it. - We both recited Teddy and he did it
0:37:16 > 0:37:22- without ever rehearsing it out loud. - The result was announced and some
0:37:22 > 0:37:26- girl called Matilda won and then - it was John Gwilym in
0:37:26 > 0:37:29- second and me third.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32- I was much taller than him. - The embarrassing thing
0:37:32 > 0:37:35- was that we had to give our names - and addresses and people
0:37:35 > 0:37:40- were laughing at me.
0:37:40 > 0:37:41- .
0:38:08 > 0:38:10- "I don't know what he..."
0:38:14 > 0:38:18- Let's start with Ceredigion. - I have to congratulate
0:38:22 > 0:38:24- Gwenallt on winning
0:38:24 > 0:38:32- Englyn of the Day on Tuesday. - Gareth Bale.
0:38:32 > 0:38:39- I don't know what he can create - But I know he's a man to celebrate
0:38:39 > 0:38:45- Golden seconds for - the memory to store
0:38:45 > 0:38:50- His torpedoes are sure to score.
0:38:50 > 0:39:00- Meirionnydd. Nia Powell. - I was struck tonight by a cold
0:39:00 > 0:39:09- By diarrhoea that I couldn't hold - Rheumatic and lumbago
0:39:09 > 0:39:13- I don't know what made him sore.
0:39:26 > 0:39:32- Next is Emyr.
0:39:32 > 0:39:37- That bus that happened to go past - Featured Farage fighting to the last
0:39:37 > 0:39:41- I don't know what he might have said - From the ditch where
0:39:41 > 0:39:48- we planted his head.
0:39:58 > 0:40:03- the words, "I don't have..." - Let's start with Meirionnydd.
0:40:03 > 0:40:05- A world on the edge - of disaster and woes
0:40:06 > 0:40:08- A bloody world, - divided by religious foes
0:40:08 > 0:40:18- The answer, I have not, I am sure - But to persevere forever more.
0:40:20 > 0:40:23- Ceredigion. - I know for sure that
0:40:23 > 0:40:26- I have not the right - To retreat from this Fenni,
0:40:26 > 0:40:29- oh, so bright
0:40:29 > 0:40:43- I cannot turn my back this year - And run away from her.
0:40:44 > 0:40:48- Finally, Eurig Salisbury. - I crossed the bottomless Usk
0:40:48 > 0:40:52- and feared her - But on the Fenni's
0:40:52 > 0:40:57- banks, harps did stir
0:40:57 > 0:41:09- And I learned that I have no right - Any more to baulk at their sight.
0:41:10 > 0:41:14- I'm not sure how many - people know just how much
0:41:14 > 0:41:18- research went into Veritas. - The novel required a huge
0:41:18 > 0:41:21- amount of research. - There are large tracts that are true
0:41:21 > 0:41:27- and major parts that aren't. - In the very first short chapter,
0:41:27 > 0:41:31- we witness the birth of Henry Tudor
0:41:31 > 0:41:41- in Pembroke Castle in 1457.
0:41:41 > 0:41:43- His mother was Margaret Beaufort
0:41:43 > 0:41:47- and she was only 13 years - old at the time, believe it or not.
0:41:47 > 0:41:56- She was a widow at 13 years of age. - It was a very painful birth.
0:41:56 > 0:42:03- When I visited Pembroke Castle, - they show you to a tower
0:42:03 > 0:42:08- where they think he - might have been born.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11- It's a very confined space - and I questioned if there
0:42:11 > 0:42:16- was room for a bed there. - The guide's answer was that no-one
0:42:16 > 0:42:24- was sure that births took place
0:42:24 > 0:42:26- in beds during that period. - There was a tradition
0:42:26 > 0:42:28- for the birth to happen
0:42:28 > 0:42:31- on a special chair. - It was like a high commode.
0:42:31 > 0:42:39- Ouch! - There was a hole in it
0:42:39 > 0:42:42- and the so-called midwife could go - underneath the clothes of the mother
0:42:42 > 0:42:45- to help the baby be born. - There were no painkillers at that
0:42:45 > 0:42:48- time to help with the birth. - But there was something called
0:42:48 > 0:42:51- a "codl", a mixture of spices
0:42:51 > 0:43:01- and spirits and beer.
0:43:11 > 0:43:19- the woman during the birth.
0:43:19 > 0:43:22- They forced the woman to drink it - so that they would
0:43:22 > 0:43:26- have been half-drunk.
0:43:26 > 0:43:28- Only women attended the birth. - Men were entirely excluded
0:43:28 > 0:43:31- from the process. - Except when something exceptionally
0:43:31 > 0:43:38- dangerous looked like happening, - only when it was thought
0:43:38 > 0:43:41- that the mother or the baby
0:43:41 > 0:43:43- was in danger of dying. - They would call in the man,
0:43:43 > 0:43:51- who passed as a doctor at that time.
0:43:51 > 0:43:57- In 1849, the measurements
0:43:57 > 0:44:03- for what we now call Everest - were first being taken.
0:44:03 > 0:44:06- It took them three years to work out - that it was the highest
0:44:06 > 0:44:09- mountain in the world. - At that time, they just
0:44:09 > 0:44:14- numbered them, and it was
0:44:14 > 0:44:17- allocated as Peak 15. - The discussions then got underway
0:44:17 > 0:44:20- as to what to call the mountain. - It took 12 years to
0:44:20 > 0:44:26- settle that debate. - Amazingly, almost all the other
0:44:26 > 0:44:28- mountains have retained
0:44:28 > 0:44:33- their indigenous names. - Either the Chinese, Tibetan,
0:44:33 > 0:44:41- Nepalese or Afghani names, that is. - This was different,
0:44:41 > 0:44:43- this was the highest
0:44:43 > 0:44:53- mountain in the world. - Naming it carried a lot prestige.
0:44:53 > 0:44:58- The clash of empires came into play - between Britain and Russia.
0:44:58 > 0:45:03- Naming the mountain was seen - as a way of maintaining influence.
0:45:03 > 0:45:08- George, in all his letters, - was insistent that the native names
0:45:08 > 0:45:14- should be used on every occasion. - He had retired by the time
0:45:14 > 0:45:18- they came to this discussion.
0:45:18 > 0:45:20- The dates are very interesting. - His birthday would
0:45:20 > 0:45:24- have been yesterday. - They put the request
0:45:24 > 0:45:27- in to name it Everest two days
0:45:27 > 0:45:31- after that, in 1956. - They admit in the initial request
0:45:31 > 0:45:34- that George was opposed - to his name being used
0:45:34 > 0:45:36- and that he was championing - the local name unless there
0:45:36 > 0:45:39- was no evidence that there
0:45:39 > 0:45:43- wasn't a local name. - They go on to make the case
0:45:43 > 0:45:46- that they had failed to find any
0:45:46 > 0:45:52- such evidence for this mountain. - There was evidence that
0:45:52 > 0:45:54- went back 100 years.
0:45:54 > 0:46:00- Some quite broad evidence at that. - Further even than that.
0:46:00 > 0:46:08- Back in 1711, Jesuit missionaries - from France had been given the task
0:46:08 > 0:46:14- whilst in Peking to visit Tibet - and survey the landscape.
0:46:15 > 0:46:21- who noted down all the local names. - They were the first to record
0:46:21 > 0:46:27- the name Chomolungma. - The spelling has altered
0:46:27 > 0:46:29- over the year, but it
0:46:29 > 0:46:33- is a very regal name. - They drew a map in 1717
0:46:33 > 0:46:36- and published it and it was widely
0:46:36 > 0:46:43- distributed in Paris in 1733. - This was the map used
0:46:43 > 0:46:49- by the early travelers. - There was also evidence
0:46:49 > 0:46:51- from the British representative
0:46:51 > 0:46:55- working in Nepal for 20 years. - He included other names used
0:46:55 > 0:46:58- for the mountain. - The papers in the Everest request
0:46:58 > 0:47:03- ignored or disputed those claims. - You never really
0:47:03 > 0:47:13- liked this song, Twm. - I can do a different
0:47:13 > 0:47:15- one, if you like.
0:47:15 > 0:47:22- I know them all. - # By the back of my white hands
0:47:22 > 0:47:24- # The whitest hands - you'll ever see
0:47:24 > 0:47:33- # Lift me from here - # To my father's house
0:47:33 > 0:47:39- # By the back of my white hands - # Over the fields and trees
0:47:39 > 0:47:49- # Over every glade and lake - # Over every city and nation
0:47:49 > 0:47:56- # Let me see the world - # Each and every corner
0:47:56 > 0:48:08- # Every street corner of every town - # Let me see the world anew
0:48:09 > 0:48:19- # All the images there to see - # And the people in their place
0:48:19 > 0:48:25- # See the walls a-shaking - # See the children falling
0:48:25 > 0:48:33- # See the woman praying - # Try to catch them all
0:48:33 > 0:48:45- # Until someone emerges like me - # Oh, oh, oh
0:48:45 > 0:48:51- # Give your hand to me - # We'll climb the highest mountain
0:48:51 > 0:48:57- # There is a way to be - # Only children know the way
0:48:57 > 0:49:04- # Give your hand to me - # And we'll look upon the nations
0:49:04 > 0:49:13- # And the peace that'll - spread from north to south
0:49:13 > 0:49:21- # The peace that'll spread from - north to south. #
0:49:21 > 0:49:22- .