Hedd Wyn, Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd, Wales - Statues of Historic Figures on Waymarking.com

Hedd Wyn was the bardic pen-name of Trawsfynydd-born shepherd-poet Ellis Humphrey Evans, who was born on the 13th January 1887.

He was the eldest of eleven children and from an early age showed a natural gift for writing poetry. He took part in eisteddfodau from the age of 19 and won his first chair at Bala in 1907. He later went on to win the chair again in the 1913 and 1915 eisteddfodau.

He is best remembered as a Welsh language war-poet, with his poem , Rhyfel ("War"), being one of his best remembered works.

In June 1917 he was sent to France as part of the 15th Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers. On the 31st July 1917, Hedd Wyn was killed in the battle of Passchendaele at Pilckem Ridge. In the time between his arrival at the front and his death Hedd Wyn had written his eisteddfod entry, Yr Arwr ("The Hero"), and had sent it to the judges.

At the eisteddfod on the 6th September 1917 Hedd Wyn's Yr Arwr won the chair, but as the author had been killed the chair was draped in a black sheet as a sign of mourning.

In 1992 the life of the poet became the subject of an award winning biopic called 'Hedd Wyn'.

The figure of Hedd Wyn is of bronze and the base is of rough-cut granite. The statue depicts Hedd Wyn in the clothes of a shepherd with his left hand holding a cloak slung over his shoulder and the upper part of crook (lower part is unfortunately missing). His right hand is flexed and raised.

The Plinth carries and inscription and a verse written by Hedd Wyn:

HEDD WYN
PRIFARDD EISTEDDFOD GENEDLAETHOL 1917
GANWYD EF YM MHLWYF TRAWSFYNYDD.
A SYRTHIODD AR ESGAIR PILKEM YN
FFLANDRYS GORFFENNAF 31 1917 YN 30 OED.
"Ei aberth nid â heibio - ei wyneb
Annwyl nid â'n ango
Er i'r Almaen ystaenio
Ei dwrn dur yn ei waed o."

* HEDD WYN
AWARD WINNING BARD OF THE 1917 NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD
BORN IN THE PARISH OF TRAWSFYNYDD.
FELL ON PILKIM RIDGE IN
FLANDERS ON JULY 31TH 1917 AGED 30 YEARS OLD.
"His sacrifice was not in vain, his face
In our minds will remain,
Although he left a bloodstain
On Germany's iron fist of pain" *

Also inscribed on slate plaques below the plinth are the following inscriptions:

HEDD WYN
PRIFARDD EISTEDDFOD
GENEDLAETHOL 1917.GANWYD EF YN MHLWYF
TRAWSFYNYDD A SYRTHIODD AR
ESGAIR PILKEM YN FFLANDRYS
GORFFENNAF 31, 1917, YN 30 OED.
EI ABERTH NID Â HEIBIO - EI WYNEB
ANNWYL NID Â'N ANGO / ER I'R ALMAEN YSTAENIO
EI DWRN DUR YN EI WAED O.

HEDD WYN
THIS STATUE COMMEMORATES THE
DEATH OF THE WINNING BARD AT THE
BIRKENHEAD NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD
AUGUST 1917. THE CHAIR WAS AWARDED
POSTHUMOUSLY TO HEDD WYN WHO WAS
KILLED IN ACTION AT PILKIM RIDGE,
FLANDERS ON JULY 30TH 1917.

URL of the statue: Not listed

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