Former office of bard ‘Meuryn’, Caernarfon
The bard ‘Meuryn’ once worked here for the newspaper Yr Herald Gymreig. His bardic name lives on as the generic term for the person who adjudicates the BBC’s Welsh-language poetry competitions. His portrait, taken by Geoff Charles in 1962, is shown here courtesy of the National Library of Wales – Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Cymru.
Robert John Rowlands (‘Meuryn’) was a bard, novelist, journalist and preacher. He was born in Abergwyngregyn, near Bangor, in 1880 to William and Mary Rowlands. He received his early education at the local National School.
He began his career as a journalist in 1901. He worked for Y Cymro in Liverpool, and returned to Wales in 1921 as editor of Yr Herald Gymreig. He won the National Eisteddfod chair that year. He was a stickler for precision in Welsh poetry and prose, and was one of the adjudicators when the BBC began its Ymryson y Beirdd radio broadcasts.
‘Meuryn’ later became the sole adjudicator, including when the BBC televised Ymryson y Beirdd in the 1950s. Since his death in 1967, each adjudicator in the BBC’s Welsh poetry competitions has been known as the ‘meyrun’. The term has even given rise to the verb meurynnu – to critique and judge poems in a competition.
RJ Rowlands had 15 books published during his lifetime. Many are set in the Welsh countryside, and his mystery and detective novels provide a portrayal of rural North Wales society in the mid-20th century. He was passionate about nature and could recognise every bird around him. He used to walk the uplands of Eryri regularly.
With thanks to Caernarfon Civic Society
Postcode: LL55 1SE View Location Map