Month: May 2026

ARTICLES of GENERAL INTEREST

OL’ MAN RIVER

This story is set in 1938, just before the onset of war with Germany. Paul Robeson, a famous black singer and actor from America, visited Mountain Ash in the valleys and sang for the people who died in the Spanish Civil War. Rick was Mr. Robeson’s driver who brought him back from Mountain Ash.

“How long till we get to Cardiff Station?” asked Paul.

“We should be in Cardiff in about one hour, but your train won’t be arriving till five, so you have about a four hour wait.”

“That’s great” said Paul, “I can go and visit my friend for lunch in a village called Wenvoe.”

“Wilf Goodbody had lived in Wenvoe for around twenty years and had asked Paul if he had time to come to lunch in the local pub. Wilf was a director of the theatre in Cardiff and had met Paul on numerous occasions. When the car pulled up outside the pub, Wilf directed Paul to a room upstairs as the culture of the area and the time dictated, most people in Wenvoe had never seen or talked to a black person.

The two men had a great time in a snug upstairs of the Wenvoe Arms. Both men had a
lovely ploughman’s lunch and two pints of Scrumpy/Cider. They could hear the hustle and bustle of voices below them; it sounded like the pub was filling up. Paul looked out of the window onto the fields. It was a beautiful winter’s day in December, but it looked like a spring day over the village.

As Paul turned around to speak to Wilf, he heard singing rising from downstairs in the pub. Paul looked at Wilf as he heard “Men of Harlech” resonating through the floorboards. “I am sorry about that” said Wilf, “it’s the Barry Male Voice choir. They heard you might call in and would like to sing for you.”

The men went down the stairs towards the courtyard next to the First World War Memorial. There stood around thirty men, all dressed up in black tie suits finishing their song. There was a standup piano in the corner, and a big crowd gathered around the pub to listen to the choir. When the song was finished everybody clapped and the man on the piano came up to Paul. “Mr. Robeson, it would be our great pleasure to sing with you, if it’s possible?”

“Wilf” said Paul, “you are a scoundrel.”

“Ok” said Paul to the piano player, “do you know Ol’ Man River in C Major?”

“Yes” said the piano player “we were hoping you would say that.”

The next five minutes of music was fantastic, as Paul’s voice rode out into the village. At the end of the song everyone in the village seemed to be watching the free show. Paul shook each of the choir’s hands, gave Wilf a big hug, jumped into the car and headed towards Cardiff. As the crowd dissipated, Mrs. Jones said to Mrs. Thomas, “There’s lovely. You don’t see that in Wenvoe every day.”

ARTICLES of GENERAL INTEREST

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

A short time ago Rhun ap Iorwerth was elected as our new First Minister here in Wales. Since then, I have been surprised by the number of people who have contacted me asking me to translate and explain his name! As for explaining the meaning of a name, this is not always possible! How would you explain the meaning of ‘William Henry’ for example? Suffice to say that Rhun is an ancient name of Celtic origin – which predates the 5th Century and is known to have been the name of some of the Kings of Gwynedd. It also appears in ancient Welsh tales. It has no translatable meaning as such but is associated with such words as ‘mighty’, ‘ruler’, ‘great’ – entirely appropriate for someone in the position of First Minister!

It has surprised me that so many people have been perplexed by the full name! Surely people are aware of the Patronymic system of names – used before fixed surnames were introduced – where ‘son of’ is the means of identification. It is a system used in a great many countries. Here in Wales it had been used for centuries until a change to fixed surnames was forced on the population following, to a large extent, the Acts of Union in the 16th Century. The Welsh system used the connecting word ‘ap/ab’, derived from ‘mab’ (son). In time this pattern produced surnames such as Pritchard (ap Rhisiart), Puw / Pugh (ap Huw), Benion, Beynon (ap Einion), Bevan (ab Ifan / Efan), Bowen (ab Owain), Probert (ap Robert), Preece, Price (ap Rhys).

Our Celtic cousins in Ireland and Scotland use ‘Mac / Mc’ of course. And in England, the word ‘son’ itself was added to the father’s name – a system which has given us today surnames such as Johnson, Robertson, Davidson, Thom(p)son and so on.

To return to the name Rhun ap Iorwerth! Rhun’s father’s name is Edward, the Welsh equivalent of which is Iorwerth. Apparently when he and his wife came to register the baby, Rhun, the powers that be refused their request to register him as Rhun ap Iorwerth. They insisted on a surname – so the family surname, Jones, was added. But he doesn’t use it. I have known a number of people over the years who have chosen to keep the traditional Patronymic system – Myrddin ap Dafydd, Pwyll ap Siôn, Gwyn ap Gwilym, Gwilym ap Robert, and so on. And one of the greatest European poets of the 14th Century – and who happened to be Welsh – was named Dafydd ap Gwilym.

Pronunciation is no real problem. Rhun – ‘Reen’ is perfectly acceptable. But in order to sound authentically Welsh, it might be interesting to know that in Welsh the letter ‘Rh’ sounds slightly different from ‘R’. ‘R’ is well rolled and voiced, whereas ‘Rh’ is unvoiced, uttered with a release of breath. Iorwerth consists of two syllables ‘Ior – werth’. Take a tip from the Irish and Scots and roll your ‘Rs’.

So there we are – the name Rhun ap Iorwerth analysed, dissected and explained. All that remains is to welcome the new First Minister and to wish him well – ‘Croeso Rhun ap Iorwerth. Pob lwc!’

Ann M. Jones