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Date: 25/08/24
Y Golau Llachar
Dewi Gray Morris
Digrifwr, actor, cerddor, bardd, awdur, ymgyrchydd
g. 21 Ebrill 1948, f. 22 Awst 2024
Dewi Gray Morris
Comedian, actor, musician, poet, author, campaigner
b. 21 April 1948, d. 22 August 2024
Dwi wedi sôn o'r blaen am yr angen i rywun fod yn amryddawn i lwyddo fel artist o unrhyw fath mewn diwylliant 'lleiafrifol' (ac ystyriwch, da chi, yr elfen o'r nawddoglyd sydd wastad y tu cefn i ddefnydd y gair hwnnw yn y cyd-destun). Os felly, Dewi Pws oedd un o'r mwyaf llwyddiannus a welyd erioed yn yr hen genedl hon.
Fel actor, fu Pws yn rhan o'n dramâu teledu mwyaf nodedig am hanner canrif, a doedd Pobol Y Cwm a Rownd A Rownd ddim ei hanner hi. Dwys neu ddigri', llon neu lef, fuodd yno yn rhoi stamp ei dalent ar y sgrîn.
(Ac, wrth gwrs, y prif - efallai ur unig - beth y bu BBC Wêls eisiau sôn amdano oedd Grand Slam, 'chos bod rygbi'n important, ondifê?)
Fel cerddor a cyfansoddwr, fu'n rhan annatod o'r twf enfawr yn y byd roc a phob Cymraeg a flodeuodd yn y saithdegau cynnar. O'r Tebot Piws, ac yna trwy ffurfio'r 'goruwchgrwp' cyntaf, sef Edward H. Dafis, hyd at grwp tebyg yn y degawd nesaf, sef Mochyn 'Apus, ac ymlaen i'r ganrif hon, ddaeth Pws â'i ddoniau i greu caneuon bythgofiadwy, bytholwerdd.
Fel digrifwr - yn enwedig trwy ei gyfresi Torri Gwynt a Rhagor O Wynt - cyflwynodd i ni fydysawd o gymeriadau fel Elfed Celt yr hen ganwr gwerin, Ricky Hoyw ( canwr o fath gwahanol iawn, â'i wallt hir a'i ddillad pefriol), a theulu 66 Chemical Gardens, teyrnged i - a dychan ar - ddarnau Teulu Ni Ryan a Ronnie o'r blynyddoedd blaenorol. Yn ogystal â'i waith i blant, wrth gwrs, a minnau'n cofio'i weld fel Y Dyn Creu ar Miri Mawr pan oeddwn yn dysgu Cymraeg yn fy arddegau.
Ond er yr holl ddireidi a waci-rwydd, yr oedd ochr ddifri' calon a dwys i'r dyn a'i waith. Prin y gallai dyn a oedd yn glown i gyd gyfansoddi caneuon fel Nwy Yn Y Nen a Dilyn Colomen, er enghraifft. Ac mi oedd Pws yn poeni'n arw am ddyfodol ein cenedl, ei chenedligrwydd a'i hiaith, a'i dywysodd i fod yn rhan o ymgyrchiadau diwylliannol a gwleidyddol hyd at ddiwedd ei oes a'i ran yn weithgareddau YesCymru yn ystod y blynyddoedd diwethaf.
Hyn i gyd yr ydan ni wedi'i golli (a dyna agwedd arall ar yr angen i fod yn aml-dalentog; gall colli un unigolyn fod fel colli dwsin o bobl, cysyniad y mae'n anodd i aelod o ddwylliant mawr, byd-eang amgyffred â fo), ond erys bywiogrwydd a nerth ei waith ar gof a chadw gennym tra bo cenedl.
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The Shining Light
I've had cause to remark before that, in order to succeed as an artist of any sort in a so-called 'minority' culture (and always keep in mind, please, the strong whiff of the patronising which is always to be found lurking behind the use of that word in such contexts), it is essential to be versatile. If so, then Dewi 'Pws' Morris was one of the most successful artists ever seen in this old nation.
As an actor, 'Pws' was part of our most notable television dramas for half a century, and Pobol Y Cwm and Rownd A Rownd weren't the half of it. Light or serious, amusing or intense, he was there to put the stamp of his talent on the screen.
(And of course, the only thing BBC EnglandInWales wanted to talk about was Grand Slam, 'cause rugby's important, iznit?)
As a musician and songwriter, he was an essential part of the huge growth in rock and pop in Cymraeg in the early seventies. From Y Tebot Piws, and then through forming the first 'supergroup' in Edward H. Dafis, onwards to a similar outfit - Mochyn 'Apus - in the next decade, and further on into this century, 'Pws' used his talents to create unforgettable and evergreen songs.
As a comic - especially in his series Torri Gwynt and Rhagor O Wynt, he presented characters to us like Elfed Celt the old folk singer, Ricky Hoyw ('Ricky Gay') (a very different type of singer altogether with his flowing hair and sparkling clothes), and the family at 66 Chemical Gardens, a tribute to - and send-up of - the Our House sketches of Ryan and Ronnie from the preceding decade. In addition to his work for children, of course, and I well remember seeing him as Y Dyn Creu in Miri Mawr when I was learning Cymraeg in my teens.
But for all the fun and wackiness, there was a heartfelt and intense side to the man and his work. A man who was simply all clown could scarcely have written songs such as Nwy Yn Y Nen or Dilyn Colomen, for example. And 'Pws' was deeply concerned about the future of our nation, its nationhood and its language, which led him to be part of cultural and political campaigns to the end of his life, especially the YesCymru campaign in recent years.
All of this is what we have lost (and that's another aspect of the need to be multi-talented; losing one such individual is like losing a dozen of them, a concept which is difficult for members of a large, globe-spanning culture to comprehend), but the liveliness and strength of his work will remain in the memory for as long as there is a nation to remember it.
I'll give you monoglots three of his songs for you to appreciate his talent. Firstly, here's Nwy Yn Y Nen ('Gas In The Sky'), which won the Cân I Gymru ('Song For Wales') competition in 1971:
Here's the first song in Cymraeg I fell in love with, Dilyn Colomen ('Following The Dove') from Y Tebot Piws' 1972 EP, Byrmingham:
Finally, from the short-lived Mochyn 'Apus in 1983, here's Ger Y Ffin ('On The Border'), with Dyfed 'Hywel Ffiaidd' Thomas providing soaring backing vocals:
