Yr Arwr, Hedd Wyn

Here we have a manuscript of the ode ‘Yr Arwr’ (The Hero) in the hand of the bard Hedd Wyn (Ellis Humphrey Evans, 1887-1917) which won him the chair at the Birkenhead National Eisteddfod following his death in 1917. Hedd Wyn is considered one of Wales’ most prominent bards, and his ode ‘Yr Arwr’ is considered to be his greatest work.

During October 1916 Hedd Wyn started work on composing his ode ‘Yr Arwr’, before he was forced due to the Military Service Act of 1916 to join the 15th Battalion of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, and in June 1917 he sailed to France.

Assuming the nom-de-plume ‘Fleur-de-lis’, he posted the ode from the village of Fléchin in northern France in July 1917.

On 31 July 1917, Hedd Wyn was killed on the battlefields of Flanders in the battle of Pilkem Ridge, near Ieper (Ypres). When ‘Fleur-de-lis’ was called on to accept his award at the Birkenhead National Eisteddfod no one rose, and the Archdruid Dyfed had to inform the crowd of the bard’s death on the battlefield. The chair was covered with a black sheet and from that moment onwards the Birkenhead Eisteddfod would become known as the Eisteddfod of the Black Chair.