Moelona

Last updated • 2 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Moelona
Moelona1917.png
Lizzie Mary Jones, from a 1917 newspaper.
Born
Eliza Mary Owen

21 June 1877
Moylon, Rhydlewis, Cardiganshire, Wales
Died5 June 1953
NationalityBritish
Other namesElizabeth Mary Jones (after marriage), Lizzie Jones
Occupation(s)Writer, novelist, translator

Moelona was the pen-name of Elizabeth (Lizzie) Mary Jones (née Owen) (21 June 1877 – 5 June 1953), a Welsh novelist and translator who wrote novels for children and other works in Welsh.

Contents

Early life

She was born at Rhydlewis, Ceredigion, the youngest of thirteen children, on a farm called "Moylon", hence her choice of pseudonym. Her parents were John Owen and Mary James Owen. [1] She went to school at Rhydlewis, one of her schoolmates being Caradoc Evans. In 1890 she became a pupil-teacher, the need to care for her widowed father preventing her from obtaining any tertiary education. [2]

Career

Fiction

Moelona taught school as a young woman, at Pontrhydyfen, Bridgend, and Acrefair. She moved to Cardiff in 1905. She wrote her first novel (Rhamant o Ben y Rhos) for an eisteddfod in 1907, but it was not published until 1918 (as Rhamant y Rhos). In 1911 she published two romance novellas, Rhamant Nyrs Bivan (Nurse Bevan's Romance) and Alys Morgan. She won a prize at the National Eisteddfod for another work of fiction, a didactic novella titled Teulu Bach Nantoer (The Little Family of Nantoer) in 1912; after it was published the next year, it became a popular Welsh-language children's book for many years. [1]

In her novel Bugail y Bryn (1917) she evokes the Welsh dialect of south Cardiganshire, with an explanatory note (before page 1) of the most common distinctive features. [3] Cwrs y lli (The Course of the Stream, 1927), a desert-island adventure Breuddwydion Myfanwy (The Dreams of Myfanwy, 1928) [4] and Beryl (1931) were considered "girls' novels". Her last novel was Ffynnonloyw (Bright Spring, 1939), in which the characters exemplify the progress Welsh women experienced in the early twentieth century. [1] [2]

Translation, lectures, journalism

Moelona joined a British-French Society in Cardiff, and became acquainted with the works of Alphonse Daudet, several of which she translated for Welsh-language periodicals, and published as Y wers olaf (The Last Lesson, 1921). [1] [5] Her husband was also a writer, and encouraged her in her writing career by making her the children's columnist on Y Darian, a periodical which he edited. [2] She also wrote a women's column for the paper beginning in 1919; [6] she encouraged women to read more about current events, to prepare for the vote. [4] She gave a lecture on "The Novel" at the second meeting of the Celtic Society at Aberystwyth in 1923. She also wrote two textbooks in Welsh, Priffordd Llên (1924) and Storïau o Hanes Cymru (1930). [7]

Personal life

In 1917, [8] Lizzie Owen married a widowed Baptist minister and editor, John Tywi Jones, [9] in Cardiff. His daughters Sophie and Gwyneth lived with them in Glais, Swansea. [6] The couple lived in New Quay, Ceredigion, from 1935 until their respective deaths in 1949 and 1953. [1] Her grave is in Rhydlewis. [2] A collection of her letters, scrapbooks, and manuscripts are archived in the National Library of Wales. [10]

Works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iolo Morganwg</span> Welsh antiquarian forger and poet (1747–1826)

Edward Williams, better known by his bardic name Iolo Morganwg, was a Welsh antiquarian, poet and collector. He was seen as an expert collector of Medieval Welsh literature, but it emerged after his death that he had forged several manuscripts, notably some of the Third Series of Welsh Triads. Even so, he had a lasting impact on Welsh culture, notably in founding the secret society known as the Gorsedd, through which Iolo Morganwg successfully co-opted the 18th-century Eisteddfod revival. The philosophy he spread in his forgeries has had an enormous impact upon neo-Druidism. His bardic name is Welsh for "Iolo of Glamorgan".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morfydd Llwyn Owen</span> Welsh mezzo-soprano and composer (b. 1891)

Morfydd Llwyn Owen was a Welsh composer, pianist and mezzo-soprano. A prolific composer, as well as a member of influential intellectual circles, she died shortly before her 27th birthday.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Rhŷs</span> Welsh scholar and Celticist (1840–1915)

Sir John Rhŷs, was a Welsh scholar, fellow of the British Academy, Celticist and the first professor of Celtic at Oxford University.

This article is about the particular significance of the year 2000 to Wales and its people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penparcau</span> Village in Ceredigion, Wales

Penparcau is a village and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales, situated to the south of Aberystwyth.

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1968 to Wales and its people.

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1967 to Wales and its people.

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1953 to Wales and its people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patagonian Welsh</span> Dialect of Welsh

Patagonian Welsh is a variety of the Welsh language spoken in Y Wladfa, the Welsh settlement in Patagonia, Chubut Province, Argentina. Patagonian Welsh has developed to be a distinct dialect of Welsh, different from the several dialects used in Wales itself; however, the dialects have a high degree of mutual intelligibility, and speakers from Wales and Patagonia are able to communicate readily. Numerous toponyms throughout the Chubut Valley are of Welsh origin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eluned Morgan (author)</span> Argentine writer

Eluned Morgan, was a Welsh-language author from Patagonia. She was raised in Y Wladfa, a Welsh colony in Patagonia, and was taught to speak both Welsh and Spanish. Her father eventually enrolled her in Dr Williams' School in Wales, where she had to learn the English language. She led student protests against the school's English-only policy, which prohibited the use of Welsh by its students.

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1917 to Wales and its people.

The Tir na n-Og Awards are a set of annual children's literary awards in Wales from 1976. They are presented by the Books Council of Wales to the best books published during the preceding calendar year in each of three awards categories, one English-language and two Welsh-language. Their purpose is "[to raise] the standard of children's and young people's books and to encourage the buying and reading of good books." There is no restriction to fiction or prose. Each prize is £1,000.

Mary Vaughan Jones was a celebrated Welsh children's author and schoolteacher.

The Pontarddulais Male Choir is a Welsh male voice choir from Pontarddulais near Swansea, Wales. It is the most successful choir in Wales and is internationally renowned having performed in many parts of Europe as well as Canada and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Hughes Jones</span> Welsh poet and writer (1895–1966)

Thomas Hughes Jones was a Welsh poet and writer from Ceredigion (Cardiganshire) in West Wales. He wrote several collections of stories and contributed to various journals, including Welsh Outlook, throughout his career. In 1940 he won the Literature Medal for his story, "Sgweier Hafila", at the National Eisteddfod. His pen name was generally abbreviated to "T. Hughes Jones".

Edward Prosser Rhys was a Welsh journalist, poet and publisher.

Louie Myfanwy Thomas was a Welsh author best known for her work under the pseudonym Jane Ann Jones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Winifred Parry</span> Welsh writer

Sarah Winifred Parry was a Welsh writer most known for developing the modern Welsh short story. She used her nickname Winnie Parry as her pen name. She became a household name with her serialized fiction in periodicals at the turn of the twentieth century. Her most acclaimed work, Sioned, first published as a serial between 1894 and 1896 was introduced as a novel in 1906 and was reissued in 1988 and 2003.

Sioned Nest James was a Welsh musician and conductor, known for founding the successful Cardiff-based choir Côrdydd and contributing to musical programmes on television.

Rhiannon Ifans, FLSW is a Welsh academic specialising in English, Medieval and Welsh literature. She was an Anthony Dyson Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, in University of Wales Trinity St. David. She twice won a Tir na-n-Og prize for her work and won the literary medal competition at the Welsh Eisteddfod, for her 2019 debut novel, Ingrid, which was chosen for the Welsh Literature Exchange Bookshelf. In 2020, Ifans was elected as a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Gramich, Katie (2011). "Jones, Elizabeth Mary [née Eliza Mary Owen; known as Moelona] (1877–1953), novelist" . Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/101144 . Retrieved 9 March 2020.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. 1 2 3 4 Jenkins, David. "JONES, ELIZABETH MARY ('Moelona'; 1877 - 1953), teacher and novelist". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  3. Moelona, Bugail y Bryn Argraffwyd a Chyhoeddwyd yn Swyddfa'r "Cymro", Dolgellau, 1917.
  4. 1 2 Rosser, Siwan M. "Navigating Nation, Gender, and the Robinsonade in The Dreams of Myfanwy" in Ian Kinane, ed., Didactics and the Modern Robinsonade: New Paradigms for Young Readers (Oxford University Press 2019): 91–114. ISBN   9781789620047
  5. Daudet, Alphonse (1921). Y Wers Olaf, Ac Ystoriau Eraill ... Wedi Eu Troi I'r Gymraeg Gan Moelona. Caerdydd.
  6. 1 2 "Moelona". Cromen. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  7. "Welsh University Notes". The Guardian. 10 February 1923. p. 6. Retrieved 9 March 2020 via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Priodas Golygydd y Darian a Moelona" Y Darian (6 September 1917): 5. via Welsh Newspapers.
  9. Macbean, Lachlan (1921). The Celtic who's who: Names and addresses of workers who contribute to Celtic literature, music or other cultural activities, along with other information. National Library of Scotland. Kirkcaldy : Fifeshire Advertiser. p. 72 via Internet Archive.
  10. Moelona Manuscripts, National Library of Wales.
  11. Moelona (1978). Teulu bach nantoer (in Welsh). Hughes a'i Fab.