Review

THE ENDURING APPEAL AND INFLUENCE OF SIR TH PARRY-WILLIAMS IN THE 21ST CENTURY

BY David Edwards

19 March 2026

The prestigious 2026 Llanelli WEA Welsh language lecture on ‘the enduring appeal and influence of Sir TH Parry-Williams in the 21st century’ was given on March 19th.

The speaker Bethan Mair treated an attentive audience to a description of Sir TH's varied and interesting life, including a consideration of three of his most well known poems.

Sir TH (1887 to 1975) was born and brought up in Rhydd-ddu, some 15 miles from Porthmadog, one of six children. He became not only a widely read and well travelled author and scholar, but also a keen motor cyclist.

As a conscientious objector he endured much criticism in World War 1 and because of his beliefs was rejected by the University of Aberystwyth when he applied for the post of Professor of Welsh Language and Literature, even though contemporaries considered him far better in the role.

Instead, he moved to a career in medicine and won a scholarship to study at Bart's but maintained a link with Aberystwyth University where in 1920 he was finally awarded the Chair in Welsh, which he held until his retirement.

Bethan spoke movingly of her appreciation of his prolific writing, focussing on his three best known poems: Ty'r Ysgol (Schoolhouse), Dychwelyd (Return), and Moelni (Barrenness).

"He had a vision that everything is one", Bethan explained, adding that "he had a feeling of never quite being in the right place".

Sir TH was widely travelled and wrote extensively, becoming an influential literary editor and Eisteddfod adjudicator.

Bethan's talk prompted a number of interesting comments and questions and WEA Chair Richard Talog Jones thanked her warmly for an interesting and insightful evening.

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