The following is a translation and adaptation of excerpts from Professor Richard Wyn Jones's Rhoi Cymru'n Gyntaf
For those who wish to get to grips with the history of Welsh nationalism, it is necessary to try and weigh up the contribution of Saunders Lewis to the movement. It was he, through his correspondence with H.R. Jones, that prepared the way for that famous meeting held in Pwllheli on August the 5th, 1925, when Jones's Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru united with the Mudiad Cymreig, a secret society of which Lewis was a member, to form the modern National Party. He, beyond a doubt, succeeded in imposing his will when it came to deciding which ideological and practical direction the Party should take. A year later he succeeded Lewis Valentine to become the Party's second president and its chief spokesman. During his time as leader he kept a tight hold of the reins, ensuring that the values and ideas expressed in the movement's publications were a lot closer to his own heart than they were, in all likelihood, to the worldview of the majority of the Party's members and supporters.
Very few modern day Pleidwyr have ever heard of Evan Alwyn Owen. There's little mention of him in the Party's archives after the winter of 1924/1925, and apart from one commemorative article written by Gwilym R. Jones in the December 1933 edition of y Ddraig Goch, references to him in the Party's publications are very rare. He wasn't intentionally forgotten. Owen, a former quarreyman from Rhyd-ddu, lived under the blight of TB and unemployment. He did not receive any physical nor financial resources to match his political vision. Nevertheless, if one person can be considered as the founder of the Welsh National Party, that honour belongs to Evan Alwyn Owen. There is a big difference between that original vision and the vision Saunders Lewis succeeded in foistering onto the new party's official programme during 1925 and 1926.
The Welsh National Party was founded on the 21st of December 1924 when a group established three months previously bearing the colourful name Byddin Ymreolwyr Cymru ('Army of Welsh Home-Rulers') decided to change its name and direction. The 'army', which was based in Caernarvonshire, was a collection of ill-matched enough individuals: some lovers of the language more than anything, others supporters of 'self-government' in that ambiguous manner typical of the period, and others who were eager to emulate the attitudes and even the methods of Sinn Fein in Wales. One who belonged to the latter faction was the movement's secretary and principle advocate, namely H.R. Jones.
Despite Jones's zeal, the 'army' wasn't in any better shape than were a host of other similar movements, such as Byddin yr Iaith and Cymru Well. These were short-lived movements: movements that were formed and reformed constantly, reflecting the frustration that Welsh nationalists of the period felt, but which failed to take root successfully. Byddin Ymreolwyr Cymru's ideation was vague, beyond extending its general support for the language and self-government. Their methods were no different either. Indeed, had the army's leader, Walter S. Jones (aka Gwallter Llyfnwy), had his way, the movement could have easily run out of steam quickly. W.S. Jones's emphasis was on the cultural. He hoped to see a campaign developing to 'impose the Welsh language' on schools side by side with English, and to ensure that every teacher in Wales's elementary schools was able to give lectures in Welsh. In order to lay the foundations for such a campaign, he was extremely eager to merge with the society of 'The Three Gs' - y Gymdeithas Genedlaethol Gymreig (the Welsh National Society)- a society primarily of students based in Bangor's University College. With the 'Three Gs' including amongst its members such figures of stature as Lewis Valentine and Thomas Parry, such a merger appeared in W.S. Jones's view to be completely sensible. But not everybody in the army agreed with him.
Jones's plans were ferociously opposed by the treasurer, namely Evan Alwyn Owen. He believed passionately that not only should the movement remain independent, but that it should become a proper political party under the name of Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru. Owen expressed his ideas in a number of letters sent to H.R. Jones, a man who was, certainly, of the same opinion.
Owen was a man with some fire in his belly. 'We have much to learn from the Irish,' he wrote in one letter, 'and if we had a few Sinn Feinners in Wales we would be better for it.' He wrote again to H.R. Jones revealing not only his desire to turn the army into a National Party, but also the goal he wished that party to attain:
I am more strongly than ever in favour of a Welsh National Party as I believe without hesitation that through it, and through it alone, Wales can ensure the fullest measure of Home-Rule: I also see in it -after imbuing the population with the National spirit- an excellent means of fighting for full Independence.
Note that it was the constitutional and not the cultural that Owen envisioned as the Party's chief goal. Owen's great fear was that merging with the students in Bangor would convert the army into a language movement rather than a movement for self-government.
But, on top of that, Owen was worried about the kind of movement that would arise from such a union with the 'Three Gs'. In another letter sent to H.R. Jones only a few days before the meeting on the 21st of December 1924, when the army decided to follow the recommendation of its treasurer rather than that of its leader, and revamped itself as the Welsh National Party, we find the following revealing comments:
After changing the name I thought we would move forward to hold meetings in every area (of Wales)- to get the young men of the valleys to join, and establish branches in every area, and then a representative from among them on the committee of every county - and so on. Without a doubt, that would be the most proletarian way to move forward. And if we want the support of the common people then we need to work our way upwards on wholly proletarian lines...
After joining with such a society (ie the 'Three Gs') in this manner the common folk would have no voice at all, everything would be in the hands of a select few who would be too respectable to do anything daring. New blood is needed, and the young of the common folk allowed to fight and work their way upwards.
Although he got his way on the matter of the 'Three Gs', the great irony is that the effort to realise Evan Alwyn Owen's dream and establish a real national party confirmed some of his worst fears regarding the proposed merger, because it gave birth to a movement which, for a substantial period, put more emphasis on language than on self-government, and that was thanks more than anything to the influence of Saunders Lewis. And although no movement which had Saunders Lewis as its leader could be considered to be 'respectable' according to the (distorted) standards of the day, neither was it a party where the common folk could feel comfortable in its ranks.
With Lewis Valentine as its first president, the National Party started on its work. One of the tasks given to H.R. Jones, who continued as its secretary, was to contact other prominent nationalists in order to ensure membership, and create a truly national network. These connections later led to that meeting in Pwllheli which is considered to be the birthplace of the modern party.
Although we can't be certain of it, we can be reasonably confident that Saunders Lewis's name would appear close to the top of any list of prospective members drawn up by Jones and his colleagues. Lewis's political views had already become known through a series of speeches, essays and letters to the press, especially after the summer of 1923. Through them Lewis established himself as one of the main spokesmen for a new wave of Welsh nationalism, a militant nationalism hardened by a younger generation's experience of the Great War and its aftermath. Lewis's declarations were especially daring and audacious.
When H.R. Jones contacted Saunders Lewis in February 1925 to invite him to contribute to the new venture, it isn't completely clear if he did so on an individual basis or if he contacted him knowing that he was a member of the Mudiad Cymreig. Although the Mudiad Cymreig ('Welsh Movement') was a secret movement, considering the web of contacts which glued the new generation of Welsh nationalists together, it would be no surprise if the officers of the National Party had come to hear of the existence of some kind of organisation among nationalists in the south. Whatever the case, the Mudiad had been meeting occasionally since January 1924. The first meeting was held in the home of G.J. and Elizabeth Williams in Penarth. With them, Saunders Lewis and Ambrose Bebb were fellow founders. A short time afterwards others joined, such as D.J. Williams, Fred Jones and Ben Bowen Thomas. The Mudiad Cymreig was intended to be a vanguard movement, with its members providing an elite who would give new direction to Welsh nationalism and Wales. Giving Wales new direction aside, Saunders Lewis certainly soon gave new direction to the new National Party, because, in reply to Jones's invitation, Lewis set an all important condition which Jones would have to accept before he would be willing to join. He insisted, simply, that the new party adopted his own policy agenda. With the acceptance of that condition began a period of fifteen years during which Saunders Lewis succeeded in controling the Party's policies.
To be continued...
