Pantycelyn – Cartref y Pêr Ganiedydd

The Sweet Songster: 300 years after his birth, many of the nearly 1000 hymns that preacher poet William Williams (1717-1791) wrote continue to be sung. His white-washed home/farm 'Pantycelyn', still owned by his descendents, is here the destination of a large group of people, perhaps cultural or religious pilgrims. Another group visits the grave of politican David Lloyd George in Llanystumdwy, and there are also shots of Talley Abbey and Dolwyddelan Castle/area.

The Dolwyddelan area shown includes shots of a lake - one of the Llynau Diwaunedd - and the distinctive Roman bridge. Pantycelyn is near Llandovery, Carmarthenshire. Williams' hymn 'Arglwydd, arwain tryw'r anialwch' is known in translation as 'Guide me, O Thou Great Redeemer', the English words including the phrase 'Bread of Heaven'. The tune used is 'Cwm Rhondda', composed by John Hughes (the tune used also for an Ann Griffiths' hymn). Many of his hymns were so popular (e.g. 'O llefara addfwyn Iesu/Mae dy eiriau fel y gwin' [O, Speak gentle Jesus/Thy words are like wine] they contributed significantly to the success of the Methodist awakenings or revivals from the 1740s onward.