E. MORGAN HUMPHREYS - The Place where I used to play - Some of the author's Memories of his childhood in Talsarnau

I was born in Faeldref, in Dyffryn Ardudwy, and it was there that I spent most of the first eighteen years of my life. Most, but not all ; when I was almost four, my father moved to live to Cefn Gwyn, Talsarnau, and we were there for three years, or three and a half, before returning to Faeldref. And memories of Cefn Gwyn and the surrounding countryside, are my first clear memories. From the bank above Cefn Gwyn you can see across the Traeth Mawr and Traeth Bach. In those years the masts of the ships were seen as a forest at the quay in Porthmadog, over the water, and the Port ships turning into the open sea with the tide on some mornings, the sun shining on their sails.

The easiest way to get to Porthmadog from Cefn Gwyn was with Sion Robert's boat from nearby Clogwyn Melyn, and I crossed the river with my mother in that boat a number of times. At one time a ship came to the shore and my father took me to it. I was on the beach a few times collecting shells with a maid from Cefn Gwyn. And between everything, my interest in the sea has continued, and especially in sailing ships.

Talsarnau school was the first school I attended. One had to walk all the way; nobody dreamt of the need to transport children to school at that time. And upon reflection the route was quite hazardous for a five or six year old to walk by himself, crossing a deep stream under the shadow of the church cemetery, past Llanfihangel Island, along the tidal bank and over the narrow bridge and iron road. I walked along the old trail some years ago and noticed the deep waters under the bridge. The journey was long, but no one thought much of it at that time and a child had to learn to take care of himself.

I remember little about the school but do remember the headmaster clearly. He was J J Thomas and he must have been an exceptional man. It was said that he was a strict disciplinarian - and discipline at that time was extreme - but the children would look forward eagerly to going to school. There was a strange charm in his personality; one thing was that he was very comely with the most beautiful eyes I ever saw and there was an electrifying thrill in his personality. He had a beautiful voice and together with John Bennett Jones, Bryn y Felin would charm many when singing in chapel. I felt the same charm in J J Thomas when I grew up and believe that many of his old pupils would agree. He was an exceptional man.

As I said, I remember little about the school but one of the teachers had a bicycle, the old-fashioned iron horse, with one large wheel and one very small wheel. That, and the personality of the headmaster, are two impressions that have stayed with me. I did not know for many years that the well-known person known today as the Rev Dr David Tecwyn Evans was in standard six at the school when I was in the very junior section. But he also remembers J J Thomas and the bicycle.

It was in Cefn Gwyn that I learnt to read. My mother taught me and the first chapter of John's Epistle was the Welsh text book. Was that the usual thing I wonder? On looking back it would have been a difficult text for a child who had only just begun to understand letters, and the pages of the Testament had worn thin and black in that part. I remember that the English book was simpler, and had Iinen sheets adapted to suit little fingers that weren't too fond of washing. I did not like that book; my mother taught me English very early in life but I remember a time when I did know a word and an English book did not appeal to me. But it was English books that eventually came to be my companions, magazines like, "Sunshine," "The Children's Friend" and "Chatterbox." There was nothing of the sort in Welsh to attract a child. " The Children's Treasure" (Trysorfa'r Plant) " would probably come to the house but I had little taste of that until I discovered, in an old volume, a story about Red Indians and Albert Maywood. Most Welsh people of that time had an odd idea about providing for children.

On looking back, the thing that seems odd is that our world was strictly Welsh, both in Talsarnau and then in Dyffryn, although the language of both schools was English only. The Welsh life was probably so strong that what happened in the schools mattered little. Certainly, the life of the home, chapel and Sunday School was much stronger than that of the daily school, but it must also be remembered that the teachers of that school were usually dominant in Chapel and Sunday School as well. There they were men and women like everyone else, and we knew, if we thought about it at all (which I doubt), that English was part of their official uniform in school every day and that they were very Welsh through and through.

I have little memory of Talsarnau chapel, but I remember Owen Roberts leading the singing, moving slowly from side to side like a metronome. He was the father of Owen Roberts, the musician from Dolgellau.  I also remember the little chapel at the Ynys and Ellis Edwards, Bala, preaching to the children on " Do not disregard the day of the little things". I was no more than six or seven years old at the time and I remember nothing about the sermon. But I still remember the text, and there must have been something special in a sermon that remained in the memory of a six-year-old boy to remember the text.

In Talsarnau and in Dyffryn "the people," to use the good old word of the area for the farmworkers, were very important to a lonely child. I am greatly indebted to them, to the young lads who had been kind to a little boy at the end of a long and hard day's work, and to a young farmhand who, though feeling himself quite a lad in his cordouroy trousers and new long sleeved waistcoat, was yet enough of a child to sometimes forget his importance and to play with another child. My only brother was seven years younger than me - and when you're seven or eight years old that difference is too great to bridge.

I see that Cefn Gwyn has been the main topic of this atricle. It was there that I began to notice and receive impressions. If I started to talk about Dyffryn as it was when I was a child and a boy, two editions of Meirionnydd would hardly have been enough room for me to elaborate!

Background and History Information E Morgan Humphreys 
Edward Morgan Humphreys (14 May 1882 – 11 June 1955), was a journalist and novelist, a native of Dyffryn Ardudwy, Meirionnydd (Gwynedd). "Celt" was his best-known pen-name.

Career
In 1905, E. Morgan Humphreys joined the staff of "Y Genedl Gymreig" (The Welsh Nation) in Caernarfon and was appointed editor of the paper 4 years later. He also edited The North Wales Observer and "Y Goleuad" (The Light) and was a regular contributor as a columnist and reviewer to the Manchester Guardian and the Liverpool Daily Post under the pseudonym "Celt".

Literary Works
E. Morgan Humphreys devoted himself to writing adventure and detective novels suitable for young people in Wales and made a great contribution by filling that gap, as young people of that time, as today, tend to turn to English books. Though they were stories aimed at children in their teens, they are very readable and interesting for adults also.
He also wrote a book on the history of the Welsh press and two volumes of portraits of Welsh celebrities, along with a translation of Cwm Eithin, Hugh Evans' classic.

Books
For children and young people :
Dirgelwch yr Anialwch 1911 (The Mystery of the Desert )
Rhwng Rhyfeloedd 1924 (Between Wars)
Yr Etifedd Coll 1924 (The Lost Heir)
Y LLaw Gudd 1924 (The Hidden Hand)
Dirgelwch Gallt y Ffrwd 1938 (The Mystery of the Hill Stream)
Ceulan y Llyn Du 1944 (Black Lake Cave)
Llofrudd yn y Chwarel 1951 (Murder in the Quarry)
Others
Welsh Press 1945
The Gorse Glen 1948. Translation of 'Cwm Eithin' by Hugh Evans.
Formerly Famous Men 1950, 1953

J H Jones was born at Ty ar y Graig in Talsarnau on May 29th 1860 to William and Beti Jones. His father worked for Mr Barker who was a gardener at the mansion, Glyn Cywarch. When JH was born his father earned fourteen shillings a week and on that eleven children were brought up. In order to make ends meet, his mother as well as raising the children would sew and mend clothes for the locals. JH was brought up in the period when the door of the house did not need to be locked. When their father was not present and they as a family held a family service each evening and every morning, his mother would ask one of them to place a spoon above the latch so that no-one could enter and spoil the atmosphere of the service.

JH could remember Capel Bethel, the chapel which is on the main street in Talsarnau, being built, but has now been closed for a number of years. He remembered Bennett Jones, Bryn y Felin who was an elder at Capel Bethel and was Gwyneth Vaughan's father, author of O Gorlannau'r Defaid, Plant y Gorthrwm and other books,
Although the Welsh Not was used in the schools in JH's time, he does not remember seeing it being used. The education he received was very English and he notes that this is the verse by Milton that they sang before going home from school:

Let us, with gladsome mind,
Praise the Lord, for He is kind;
For His mercies, they endure,
Ever faithful, ever sure.

As he and his friends did not understand the words, nor had anyone bothered to explain, this is how they sang the first line:

Lettuce, gwydda glas a maidd. . . . . . being - lettuce, blue geese and mead !

He refers to the fact that he did not learn much Welsh at school but his father owned the book 'Drych y Prif Oesoedd' by Theophilus Evans. On Sundays children were not allowed to read only religious books. When his father had a nap before going to Sunday School, JH would seize the opportunity and took 'Drych y Prif Oesoedd' to read under the plum tree at the back of the house. He claims he owes a great debt to the book 'Drych y Prif Oesoedd'.

J H Jones had an apprenticeship with a tailor in Porthmadog after leaving school. He then went to Birkinhead to learn the trade of typesetter. From there he went to the Herald Gymraeg Office in Caernarfon in 1882 as a typist. He returned to the Liverpool area in 1890 to work in the Cymro newspaper Office and in the same year, he married Elizabeth Parry and in time they had three children.

He was an elder at MC Parkfield Chapel, in Woodchurch Road chapel and in Laird Street, Birkinhead.

He left Y Cymro and worked as a typesetter in Wrexham, and during this period he was writing weekly articles and essays for Y Genedl paper outside normal working hours.

In 1906 he agreed to take charge of a new weekly paper for the Liverpool area, Y Brython. The paper soon became popular and was sold throughout Wales. He believed that his main task was to protect Welsh civilization and culture. While in office J. H. Jones witnessed the scene at the Birkenhead National Eisteddfod in 1917, when he was informed that the poet of the Chair was Hedd Wyn, the young farmer from Trawsfynydd, who had been killed in the war in France shortly before the ceremony. JH was at the Eisteddfod at the time and notes what an amazingly sad experience that was. He was the editor of the paper until 1931. He was followed by Gwilym R Jones who later became the editor of Y Faner after the Brython came to an end in 1939.

After his time at Y Brython, J H lectured extensively and in 1932 he went on a lecture tour in the United States of America. In 1941 he went to live with his daughter and her husband in Penygroes, Caernarfonshire where he died on 23rd March 1943.

Among the books that he published are four notable:
O'r Mwg i'r Mynydd 1913
Swp o Rug 1920
Moelystota 1932
Gwin y Gorffennol 1938

JH refers in his book Gwin y Goffennol which shows his affection for this local area and its people, to a number of children who were contemporary with him when he was at school. He refers to a number using the custom that was very much alive at that time which was to add the name of the home after the child's name such as Wil Rhyd Goch, Ffranc Ynys Gifftan or Mathaw Llechollwyn. He also conveys his longing for them in Ieuan Glan Geirionydd's verse:

Where, how, is today the multitude that was
Playing, learning and discussing happily together?
Some in graves sleeping and others across the world,
That there is no bell today that can recall them to the fold.

Ellis Wynne of Lasynys
Born 7 March 1671 - died 13 July 1734
Occupation priest, poet

The Lasynys, the home of Ellis Wynne. The building dates from around 1600 but was extensively renovated by the writer in the period 1715-20.
Ellis Wynne was a religious writer and translator. He is well known as the author of the Visions of the Sleeping Bard, which is considered one of the classics of Welsh prose.
Ellis Wynne was born in Lasynys (or Lasynys Fawr), a substantial farmhouse between Talsarnau and Harlech, in the old County of Merioneth (South Gwynedd), the son of Edward Wynne of Glyn Cywarch mansion (not far from Lasynys). It was a family of noble origin with a connection to the Brogyntyn family, near Oswestry. Through his grandfather Elis Wyn, Ellis Wynne was related to John Jones, Maesygarnedd, one of those who signed the warrant for the execution of King Charles 1st of England.
Unlike John Jones of Maesygarnedd, Ellis Wynne was a staunch royalist. The details of his career are uncertain, but he appears to have spent a period at Shrewsbury Grammar School. A Latin poem by Wynne suggests a connection with Beaumaris Grammar School as well. He went to Oxford where he graduated on the 1st of March 1692, aged 21. It is possible that he met the multi-talented genius Edward Llwyd while he was there. In September 1698 he married his first wife, Lowri Wynne from Moel-y-glo, Merioneth.
He was ordained a priest and deacon in Bangor cathedral in December 1704. He became rector of the parishes of Llanbedr and Llandanwg in 1705 and then had the pastorate of Llanfair, near Harlech, in 1710. In 1711 he married his second wife, Lowri Lloyd of Hafod Lwyfog (near Aberglaslyn) and moved to Lasynys again where he lived for the rest of his life. He died on 13 July 1734 and was buried in Llanfair church.
Ellis Wynne translated the Rule of Holy Life (from Jeremy Taylor's English work) in 1701 and an edition of the Book of Common Prayer in 1710.
However, his main literary work is the prose text Gweledigaethau y Bardd Cwsc (Visions of the Sleeping Bard) (1703), which is loosely based on Roger L'Estrange and John Stevens' English translations of the book Los Sueños ( 'The Dreams') by the Spaniard Don Francisco de Quevedo (1580-1645). The poet sees three visions as he navigates through the world (Vision of the course of the World), through death (Vision of Angeu in his lower Royal Court) and through hell (Vision of Hell). He is accompanied by
an angel on earth and in hell and by a Master of Sleep in the Kingdom of Death. The work depicts a sinner's journey from this world through death to hell. The Visions is a burlesque book written in natural and refined Welsh that expresses the viewpoint of a royalist and churchman on the state of the country in his time. It shows the author's mastery of classical Welsh as well as the spoken Welsh of the period at its sexiest. A vision of the Court of Death is found there, and it is possible that Wynne
intended a second volume on the Court of Paradise as a successor to it. As well as imaginative descriptions of Hell and scathing satire, there are, as a striking contrast, pieces of very charming prose, especially the famous opening which describes the country around Harlech through the author's binoculars.
Ellis was also a collector and copyist of Welsh manuscripts. One of the manuscripts he received was one containing a number of prophetic poems, including some based on "Y Bardd Cwsg" (Rhys Fardd).
He didn't write much poetry but one of his poems, 'Gadael Tir', which is found at the end of the second part of the Sleeping Bard's Visions, is a small classic that has won its place in several Welsh anthologies. The poets Siôn Rhydderch and Robert Humphrey wrote hymns for him. He also composed several hymns. The most famous is the one that begins with the line 'I am the Great Resurrection.'

Ted Breeze Jones

Hes was born in 1929 in the Cae Clyd area, Manod, Blaenau Ffestiniog. He attended Manod and Maenofferen schools before moving to Ffestiniog Grammar School in 1940. He lost his parents when he was only 9 years old and was adopted by Martha and Humphrey Williams, 8 Stryd Dorfil, Blaenau Ffestiniog.

He was a keen reader and it seems that the book "The Natural History of Selbourne" had a considerable influence on him and awakened his interest.

He was impressed by the writings of the naturalist from Anglesey, T G Walker, and the two in time became lifelong friends. In fact T G Walker persuaded Ted Breeze Jones to buy his first camera.

After leaving college, he got a job as a teacher in Trawsfynydd in 1950, and then at Ysgol Maenofferen, Blaenau Ffestiniog in 1952 and then moved to Ysgol Manod in 1962.

It was through his contact with T G Walker that T B Jones came to know Charles F Tunnicliffe the artist. Later he would take pictures of Tunnicliffe's paintings before he sold them.

Nature photography developed to be his main interest and he would develop the photos himself. In time his photographs came to prominence appearing in magazines such as "Cymru'r Plant," "Yr Athro," and later in magazines such as "Birds Monthly Illustrated" and "Country Life" between 1955 and 1960.

When Blaenau Ffestiniog Camera Club was established TB Jones was elected as its Chairman.

There was a great demand for his services as a lecturer and he travelled the length and breadth of North Wales in particular showing slides to local societies.

Between 1966 and 1997 he published around 30 volumes and countless articles in various magazines.

He held WEA and External Studies classes at Bangor University and in time became a very familiar voice on radio and television.

Here is an entry from D O Jones Padog praising some of T B Jones's talent:

We owe a long life to his talents - and his craft

Which is full of grain, we get

Here now see and enjoy

Happy, all the excitement of the photos.

Through his attitude and way of thinking, T B Jones was a medium to generally influence people's way of thinking about the natural world, especially the Welsh-speaking Welsh, so that today we are much more prepared to protect and respect wildlife.

Another important contribution by T B Jones, together with Peter Hope Jones, was the publication of a list of Welsh names of Welsh birds in 1974 under the auspices of the National Museum.

In 1974 he married Anwen and settled in Llandecwyn.

Through the 1970s up to the 1990s was a period of effervescence in the interest in the world of nature among the Welsh-speaking Welsh. T B Jones played a leading role in this development. Courses were held at Urdd Glanllyn Camp, in Plas Tanybwlch and Cymdeithas Edward Llwyd was established in 1978. There was an increase in the publication of Welsh magazines and nature books, and a buzz in radio and television programmes in particular after the establishment of S4C in 1982.e

T B Jones retired early from his job as a teacher in 1982 and concentrated on photography, publishing and broadcasting. This was his most productive period as a writer, publishing a large number of books and articles in magazines such as "Y Faner," "Y Naturiaethwr," "Cynefin," "Dan Haul" etc.

He was in great demand as a broadcaster who also contributed to Seiat Byd Natur on Radio Cymru. For the television program "Awyr Iach" he filmed in Kenya, Spain, Morocco, Gambia and India. Experiences that he greatly appreciated, and which were the basis, more than likely, for him to create a list of standard Welsh names for the birds of European countries.

His contribution to the natural world was very significant and he managed to awaken and arouse the interest of a large number of Welsh-speaking Welsh in the natural world around them. He left a rich natural legacy of pictures and writings that will be with us, as treasures for a long time.