WILLIAMS
,
PETER
(
Pedr Hir
;
1847
-
1922
),
Baptist minister, author, and eisteddfodwr
;
b.
1 May 1847
at
Byrdir
,
Llanynys
parish,
Vale of Clwyd
. He frequented the school of
J. D.
Jones
, the
musician
(q.v.)
; in
1868
he was at a
Ruthin eisteddfod
, enjoying the company of such varied characters as
Nefydd
,
Talhaiarn
, and
Llew Llwyfo
(qq.v.). He tried his hand at several occupations before joining the
Denbighshire police force
in
1870
, and from that year
till 1880
(except for one spell of
keeping school
) he kept the peace in rural districts like
Pentrefoelas
and
Llanefydd
, moving in the company of men who read and thought,
writing a little poetry
, attuning his ears to the voices of tradition and folk-lore. He retired from the
police
force towards the end of the
summer of 1880
; he commenced
preaching
, and without any kind of college education, was, in
1881
, invited to become
minister
to the
Baptists
of
Abergele
, where he met
Emrys ap Iwan
(q.v.)
; in
1886
he moved south to
Shiloh
,
Tredegar
; in
1897
he became
minister
of
Balliol Road church
,
Bootle, Lancs.
, and there he remained until his death on
24 March, 1922
. In person he was immensely tall, broad in proportion, a fine handsome presence; as a
preacher
he developed into one of the most powerful in his denomination, with his homely manner, his rich vocabulary from the
Vale of Clwyd
, preaching sound evangelical doctrine with a background of enlightened humanism. One can follow his developments, both as regards resources and style, from his article on aesthetics and religion in the
Seren Gomer
of
1883
to the address from the
chair
at the
Baptist Union
meetings of
1905
, ending up with the polished prose of his paper before the
Baptist Historical Society
in
1911
. He
composed several hymns
; the best known is ‘
Bydd canu yn y nefoedd
,’ written as early as
1867
. As an
eisteddfodwr
, he was in the front rank; everybody enjoyed his addresses from the
logan stone
, with their piercing wit and virile patriotism; they were published as a volume,
Damhegion y Maen Llog
, in
1922
. For a time he was
a keen competitor himself; he secured the prize for a pastoral ode at the
London national eisteddfod
,
1887
, for a romance at the
Brecon national eisteddfod
,
1889
. He published his
Odlau
in
1879
,
Yr Aifft
in
1885
, and
Breuddwyd Sion y Bragwr
in
1890
. In his latter years he was full of enthusiasm for the
Welsh
drama; he had published two scriptural dramas, based on the story of
Moses
in
1903
and
1907
; but his most ambitious effort,
Owain Glyndwr
, was acted and published in
1915
. He was deeply touched by the revival of
1904-5
, and his
Key and Guide to Welsh
, published in
1911
, was really an effort to rouse the young members of his church, many of them with insufficient knowledge of
Welsh
, to polish up their knowledge of it, examine its niceties, and at the same time open their minds to the doctrines enshrined in the language and bring to fruition the lessons of the revival. Because of his great literary output and his long and honourable connection with the national festival, the
Eisteddfod
authorities were glad to avail themselves of the offer of his children that they should endow an
annual prize
directly associated with
Pedr Hir
's name.
Bibliography:
-
Thomas Shankland
, ‘Braslun o Hanes ei Fywyd,’ prefixed to
Damhegion y maen llog
, Liverpool,
1922
, 13-23;
-
Llyfr Tonau ac Emynau
and
, Wrexham,
1868
(
Stephen
and
J. D. Jones
),
1868 ed., 276
;
-
Wales, the National Magazine for the Welsh
People
), 1911–4
,
1912
, 507;
-
Seren Gomer
,
1930
(129),
1931
(77);
-
Trafodion Cymdeithas Hanes Bedyddwyr
Cymru
,
1945-7
, 61;
-
Elsbeth Evans
,
Y Ddrama yng Nghymru [Cyfres Pobun,
13]
, Liverpool, 1947
(Cyfres Pobun), 29-30;
-
National Library of Wales Manuscript
9277.
Author:
Thomas Richards, D.Litt., (1878-1962), Bangor
