Thomas Rowland Hughes

Thomas Rowland Hughes (often referred to as T. Rowland Hughes) (17 April 1903 – 24 October 1949), was a Welsh novelist, dramatist and poet He was the son of a quarryman from Llanberis, Caernarvonshire (Gwynedd today), in northern Wales. He is primarily renowned in the present day for his novels about characters living and working in the slate quarries of northern Wales, but in his day he was just as well known as a poet. William Jones is his most famous novel.

His life

Hughes obtained a first class degree in English at the University College of North Wales in Bangor. In 1928, he was awarded a scholarship by the University of Wales to study at Jesus College, Oxford, leading to a B.Litt. degree in 1931 on "The London Magazine from 1820 to 1829".^[1] His most important job was as a producer with the BBC in Cardiff. In his thirties he began to suffer from multiple sclerosis, and it was at this time that he began to write his most well-known works.

Hughes won the Chair at the National Eisteddfod on two occasions, in 1937 for his ode 'Y Ffin' ('The Boundary'), and again in 1940 for 'Pererinion' ('Pilgrims').

Bibliography

Poetry

• Tydi a roddaist ("Thou Who Gavest", set to music by Arwel Hughes in 1938).

Lyrics in Welsh

Tydi a roddaist liw i'r wawr
A lliw i'r machlud mwyn,
Tydi a luniaist gerdd a sawr
A'r gwanwyn yn y llwyn,
O cadw ni rhag colli'r hud
Sydd heddiw yn crwydro drwy'r holl fyd.

Tydi a luniast gân i'r nant
A si i'r goedwig werdd,
Tydi a roist i'r awel dant
Ac i'r ehedydd gerdd,
O cadw ni rhag dyfod dydd
Na yrr ein calon gân yh rhydd.

Tydi a glywaist lithriad traed
Ar ffordd Galfari gynt,
Tydi a welaist ddafnau'r gwaed
Y gŵr ar ddiethr hynt.
O cadw ni rhag dyfod oes
Heb goron ddraen, na chur, na chroes.

• Cân neu ddwy ("A Song or Two", 1948)

Novels

• O Law i Law (1943)
• William Jones (1944)
• Yr Ogof ("The Cave", 1945)
• Chwalfa ("Upheaval", 1946)
• Y Cychwyn ("The Beginning", 1947)

Plays

• Y Ffordd ("The Way", 1945)

For Children

• Storïau Mawr y Byd ("Great Stories of the World", 1936)

Criticism and Memoirs

• Memoir by Edward Rees (1968)
• John Rowlands, T. Rowland Hughes (Writers of Wales series, Cardiff, 1975)

External links

• 'Lleol i Mi' on the BBC website (Welsh)

References

1. Rowlands, John (2004). "Hughes, Thomas Rowland (1903–1949)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online edition, subscription access). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 13 April 2008.