Friday 12 August 2022

Yr Hen Iaith


To say it was a surprise is the understatement of the year; when I first heard that I had won the Foundation Learners Prize for Composition at the National Eisteddfod I was convinced it was a mistake. It was for a piece I had written and submitted before the pandemic which I had assumed had disappeared for good. But last week in Tregaron - on one of the days when it didn't rain! - I was overjoyed to receive the award from Jeremy Miles, the Welsh minister for education, on Maes D. I've been fortunate to win writing prizes in the past but this, for a few hundred words in yr hen iaith (the old language), the language of my grandparents, means more to me than anything.



In the excellent art exhibition at the Eisteddfod was one very striking piece - My Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau (the Welsh national anthem) worked in soil, slate and coal dust, appearing as if weathered on a grave stone.  What a stark warning that what you don't use, you may well lose. Thank heavens that, after some rocky years in the mid 20th century, the language is enjoying a great resurgence. J.R.R. Tolkien wrote that "Welsh is of this soil, this island, the senior language of the men of Britain and Welsh is beautiful." I couldn't agree with him more.


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