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The Gorsedd service remembers Welsh radical poet Iolo Morganwg on Primrose Hill |
Magic dragon... Hill tribute to Welsh icon
DRUIDIC bards celebrated more than two centuries of links to a radical Welsh poet on Primrose Hill over the weekend.
It was on the top of the hill during the summer solstice of 1792 that renowned polymath Iolo Morganwg convened the first meeting of a Welsh cultural group, the Goresedd of Bards of the Island of Britain, which still meets today.
And on Saturday, a plaque and stone circle commemorating Morganwg was unveiled on the Hill. Costumed bards joined BBC newsreader Huw Edwards and Alun Ffred Jones, the Welsh Assembly’s minister for heritage, to mark Morganwg’s life and work.
Mr Edwards said: “We in the London Welsh community are very proud of Iolo Morganwg and his invaluable contribution to the culture of Wales.”
Welsh MP Elfyn Llwyd, who was behind the project, added; “I hope that the memorial’s timelessness will be appreciated and enjoyed by all who visit and love Primrose Hill.”
Morganwg became a respected member of London society. As well as his poetry, he was a political radical who was friends with philosopher Tom Paine. He prompted a trend of Welsh myth-making that celebrated its Celtic roots and helped shape Welsh literature. |
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