Fonds GB 0210 DICJONES - Papurau Dic Jones = Dic Jones Papers

Ganed Richard Lewis Jones ar ffarm Pen-y-Graig ger pentref Tre'r-ddôl yng ngogledd Ceredigion a'i fagu ar ffarm Tan-yr-eglwys yn ne'r sir. Gadawodd ysgol yn bymtheg oed i amaethu Tan-yr-eglwys a ffarm gyfagos Yr Hendre, Blaenannerch. Daeth i gysylltiad â byd barddoni a chystadlu trwy gyfrwng Aelwyd yr Urdd Aberporth a dechreuodd ddysgu'r gynghanedd dan diwtoriaeth y bardd gwlad adnabyddus Alun Cilie (Alun Jeremiah Jones, 1897-1975), gan feistroli'r grefft i'r fath raddau nes cipio Cadair Eisteddfod yr Urdd ar bum achlysur. Aeth ymlaen i ennill Cadair Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru Aberafan ym 1966 gyda'i awdl 'Y Cynhaeaf', ond fe'i ddiarddelwyd fel bardd buddugol Cadair Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Aberteifi ym 1976 gyda'i awdl 'Y Gwanwyn' oherwydd ei aelodaeth o Bwyllgor Llên yr Eisteddfod. Cyhoeddwyd Agor Grwn, cyfrol gyntaf o farddoniaeth Dic Jones, ym 1960, a ddilynwyd gan chwe casgliad pellach, a chyfrol hunangofiannol, Os Hoffech Wybod, ym 1989. Cyfrannodd golofn wythnosol i'r cylchgrawn Golwg am flynyddoedd lawer. Bu'n aelod o Gôr Meibion Blaenporth, côr a sefydlwyd gan ei dad, Alban Lewis Jones, ym 1946, ac o Gôr Pensiynwyr Aberteifi, dan arweiniad ei chwaer, Margaret Daniel. Yn 2008, urddwyd Dic Jones yn Archdderwydd Gorsedd Beirdd Ynys Prydain dan ei enw barddol Dic yr Hendre, yr amaethwr cyntaf i dderbyn yr anrhydedd. Methodd fynychu Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Y Bala yn 2009 oherwydd gwaeledd, a bu farw ar 18 Awst y flwyddyn honno o gancr y pancreas. Wedi'i farwolaeth, cyhoeddwyd detholiad o'i waith dan y teitl Cerddi Dic yr Hendre (golygwyd gan Ceri Wyn Jones) ac Yr Un Hwyl a'r Un Wylo (golygwyd gan Elsie Reynolds), casgliad o gerddi Dic Jones nas cyhoeddwyd o'r blaen. Trwy gydol ei yrfa farddonol, bu galw mawr am wasanaeth Dic Jones fel beirniad eisteddfodol, meuryn a thiwtor, fel aelod o banel y rhaglen radio boblogaidd Talwrn y Beirdd ac fel anerchydd ffraeth a hwyliog mewn amryw gymdeithasau. Cyfrifir Dic Jones yn un o feirdd mwyaf huawdl a chrefftus ail hanner yr ugeinfed ganrif. (https://bywgraffiadur.cymru/article/c10-JONE-LEW-1934#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&manifest=https%3A%2F%2Fdamsssl.llgc.org.uk%2Fiiif%2F2.0%2F1477272%2Fmanifest.json&xywh=994%2C1332%2C593%2C511)

= Richard Lewis Jones was born on Pen-y-Graig farm near the north Ceredigion village of Tre’r-ddôl and brought up on Tan-yr-eglwys farm in the south of the county. He left school at 15 to work on Tan-yr-eglwys and the neighbouring farm of Yr Hendre, Blaenannerch. He first came into contact with the world of poetry and poetic competition through the Urdd community in Aberporth and started to learn the craft of cynghanedd – the writing of strict-metre poetry – under the tutelage of the well-known local community poet Alun Cile (Alun Jeremiah Jones, 1897-1975), mastering the craft to such an extent that he went on to win five Urdd Eisteddfod Chairs. He subsequently won the Chair at the National Eisteddfod in Aberafan in 1966 with his awdl (ode) ‘Y Cynhaeaf’ (‘The Harvest’), but, although victorious at Cardigan National Eisteddfod in 1976, he was disqualified from taking the Chair due to his membership of the Eisteddfod Committee. Dic Jones’s first collection of poetry, Agor Grwn, was published in 1960, followed by six further collections and a volume of memoirs, Os Hoffech Wybod, in 1989. For many years he contributed a weekly column to the magazine Golwg. He was a member of Blaenporth Male Voice Choir, established by his father, Alban Lewis Jones, in 1946, and of Cardigan Pensioners’ Choir, under the conductorship of his sister, Margaret Daniel. In 2008, Dic Jones was invested as Archdruid of the Gorsedd of Bards under his bardic name of ‘Dic yr Hendre’, the first farmer to be accorded the honour. Illness forced him to forego his expected attendance at the Bala National Eisteddfod in 2009 and he died on the 18th of August of that year from pancreatic cancer. Following his death, a selection of his poems titled Cerddi Dic yr Hendre (edited by Ceri Wyn Jones) was published, together with Yr Un Hwyl a’r Un Wylo (edited by Elsie Reynolds), a collection of previously unpublished poems by Dic Jones. Throughout his bardic career, Dic Jones was in great demand as an eisteddfod and poetic contest adjudicator, as a tutor, as a panel member on the popular radio programme Talwrn y Beirdd and as a witty and entertaining orator at social gatherings. Dic Jones is considered one of the twentieth century’s most skilled and eloquent bards. (https://biography.wales/article/s10-JONE-LEW-1934#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&manifest=https%3A%2F%2Fdamsssl.llgc.org.uk%2Fiiif%2F2.0%2F1477272%2Fmanifest.json&xywh=994%2C1332%2C593%2C511)