Evans, Ellis Humphrey

(1887-1917)

   One the "Heroes of Wales" whose bardic name was Hedd Wyn or "White Peace," he was born in Penlan, Trawsfynydd, where his roots went back generations, and worked as a shepherd on his father's farm. By the age of 28 he had won four eisteddfod chairs for his poetry. Conscripted into the 15th bat126 talion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers in 1917, he was sent to the Western Front, where he was killed on July 31, 1917, during the battle for Pilckem Ridge, Ypres. Buried initially on the battlefield, following the armistice, his body was moved to Artillery Wood Cemetery, Boezinge, Belgium, where the inscription reads "Y Prifardd Hedd Wyn" (The Principle Bard, Hedd Wyn). At the 1917 National Eisteddfod, he was posthumously awarded the chair for his poem "Yr Arwr" (The Hero), which describes the realities of war for both the soldiers and their families back home. Following the announcement of his win and revelation of the author's identity, the chair itself was draped in black in memorial of Wyn. A Welshlanguage film, Wynn Hedd, based on his life, was produced in 1992 and was made available on video.

   Sources: Family Trees of the Famous: Hedd Wyn (Ellis Humphrey Evans) (http://www.s4c.co.uk/helachau/e_family_humphrey.shtml). First World War.com-Prose & Poetry - Hedd Wyn. http://www.firstworldwar.com/poetsandprose/wyn.htm). Hedd Wyn (Ellis Humphrey Evans) / 100 Welsh Heroes / 100 Arwyr Cymru (http://www.100welshheroes.com/en/biography/heddwyn). Hellfire Corner -The Great War - At the Going Down of the Sun (http://www.hellfire-corner.demon.co.uk/jacky4.htm). Text of Yr Eneiniogby Hedd Wwn (http://cy.wikisource.org/wiki/Yr_Arwr). The Oxford Book of Welsh Verse in English. Gwyn Jones, ed. Oxford University Press, 1977. Two of Ellis Humphrey Evans's poems in Welsh (http://www.webexcel.ndirect.co.uk/gwarnant/beirdd/modern/hedd.htm).