JONES, ABEL (Bardd Crwst; 1830 - 1901), ballad writer and strolling ballad singer

Born at Llanrwst, son of Abel Jones, 'carrier,' and of his wife Jane - both died, aged 74, in 1876; his brother William (died 1893) was also a 'character.' Abel was a one-eyed man; there is a portrait of him in Cymru (O.M.E.), xxvii, 173 and in Cerddi Cymru (n.d.), vol. i. He is known to have been singing at least as early as 1864, and Elfyn (R.O. Hughes) heard him singing at Abergele in the early part of 1901. At one period he lived at Mold, 'in a court off the High-Street,' and Ellis Edwards recounts how he would drop into Daniel Owen the novelist's shop for a chat. He travelled throughout Wales - several of his ballads (of which we have seventy-one) are concerned with events in South Wales. He has been called 'the prince of ballad-singers,' and when we consider how recent were his activities (many who are still alive have heard him) we may regard him as being in a sense a historical figure in Welsh social life - the last of the 'great' balladists. He died in the workhouse at Llanrwst in 1901, 'aged 71,' and was buried 22 June.

Author

• Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, (1881 - 1969)

Sources

• Frequent allusions in Cymru (O.M.E.), e.g. xxii, 30, xxvii, 173, et alibi, xxviii, 303, xlix, 41
• David Samuel, Cerddi Cymru casgliad o ganeuon Cymreig, hen a diweddar, preface
• B. B. Thomas, Baledi Morgannwg (1951) (ballad xxxi)
• list of his ballads in Journal of the Welsh Bibliographical Society, vii, 64-70, viii, 104
• register of S. Mary's, Llanrwst (by the kindness of the rector)
• information from Mr. A. Morley Jones, Llanrwst

Further reading

• Tegwyn Jones, Abel Jones, Bardd Crwst (Capel Garmon 1989)

Works

• Abel Jones, Cân ar deimladau siomedig ar ôl colli'r trên : "Y calla o'r tri yn collai'r train."

Additional Links

• Wikidata: Q20732610

Published date: 1959

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