ROBERTS
,
RICHARD
(
1796
-
1855
),
harpist
;
according to
M.
Davies
(
Meurig Idris
) he was born in the commote of
Ardudwy
,
Merioneth
, but
John
Parry
(
Bardd Alaw
)
said that his birthplace was
Cefn-y-mein
,
Llŷn, Caerns.
He became
blind
at the age of 8, following an
attack of
smallpox
. Taught to
play the harp
by the famous
harpist
William
Williams
(‘
Wil Penmorfa
’), he became
one of the most accomplished players on the triple harp
in his period. He won the
silver harp
offered at the
Wrexham eisteddfod
of
1820
, and the
gold harp
at the
Denbigh eisteddfod
of
1828
. He
adjudicated
much — e.g. at the
Abergavenny eisteddfod
,
1843
, and the
Rhuddlan eisteddfod
,
1850
.
Cambrian Harmony
, which he published in
1829
, contains thirty airs, twenty of them appearing for the first time. He was the
teacher of several harpists
who afterwards became well known. He d.
28 June 1855
, and was buried in
Llanbeblig
churchyard, near
Caernarvon
.
Bibliography:
-
Nicholas Bennett
and
D. Emlyn Evans
,
Alawon fy Ngwlad
, and
, 1896
;
-
M. O. Jones
,
Bywgraffiaeth Cerddorion Cymreig
,
National Eisteddfod Association publication, 1890
;
-
R. Griffith
,
Llyfr Cerdd Dannau
. [1913.]
.
Author:
Robert David Griffith, M.A., (1877-1958), Old Colwyn
