Men of Harlech - History

History

The music was first published without words in 1794 as Gorhoffedd Gwŷr Harlech—March of the Men of Harlech in the second edition of The Musical and Poetical Relicks of the Welsh Bards but it is said to be a much earlier folk air. The earliest version of the tune to appear with lyrics, found thus far, comes from a broadside printed around c. 1830. Since then, many different versions of the English lyrics have appeared. It first appeared with Welsh lyrics in Gems of Welsh Melody, edited by the Welsh poet, John Owen (Owain Alaw), published in London, England and Wrexham, Wales in 1860. An edition containing Welsh and English lyrics was published in Ruthin, Wales, in 1862. The song was published in Volume II of the 1862 collection Welsh Melodies with the Welsh lyrics by the Welsh poet John Jones (Talhaiarn), and the English lyrics by Thomas Oliphant, President of the Madrigal Society. Another source attributes the Welsh words to the poet John Ceiriog Hughes, first published in 1890, and says that English words were first published in 1893, but this is clearly predated by the 1862 publication.