The Welsh National Anthem

"Hen Wlad fy Nhadau" was written in 1856 by father and son Evan James and James James from Pontypridd.

Interesting facts about the Welsh National Anthem

• The earliest copy is found in a manuscript of instrumental a choral music that belonged to James James.
•  The father wrote the lyrics and the son composed the music. The harmonies were added four years later in 1860 by John Owen.
• The tune, Glan Rhondda, as it was known when it was first composed, was performed for the first time in Capel Tabor, Maesteg, on 1 March 1856, by a singer called Elizabeth John from Pontypridd.
• In 1899, a singer called Madge Breese made the first known recording made in the Welsh language. The song was Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau.
• Versions of Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau are used as anthems in Cornwall, as “Bro Goth Agan Tasow”, and Brittany, as “Bro Goz ma Zadoù”. The tune is also known in parts of North East India where it was introduced to the Khasi people by Welsh missionaries in the 1800s.
• A memorial, designed by Sir William Goscombe John, was erected in honour of Evan and James James in Ynysangharad Park, Pontypridd, in 1930. The work took 30 years to complete.

• The National Anthem in Welsh
• The National Anthem in English