Yma o Hyd

"Yma o Hyd"
Single by Dafydd Iwan ac Ar Log
from the album Yma o Hyd
Released1983
GenreWelsh folk music
Celtic Rock
Length4:11
LabelSain
Songwriter(s)Dafydd Iwan

"Yma o Hyd" (Welsh for 'still here') is a Welsh-language folk song by Dafydd Iwan. The song was released during Iwan and Ar Log's Taith Macsen ('Macsen's journey') tour in 1983. Since then it has continued to gain popularity at cultural and sporting events.

The song has topped the UK iTunes charts twice since 2020 with a poll suggesting that 35% of people in Wales knew at least some of the lyrics.[1][2]

Background

The historian Gwynfor Evans is said to have given Iwan the idea for the song.

Iwan was described by Ned Thomas as "the master" of the popular songs that accompanied the growth of Welsh nationalism in the 1960s. These songs were often characterised by both satirical and political themes as well as historical references.[3] Indeed, Iwan became a key figure in Welsh culture as a well known television personality, recording artist and an outspoken member of Welsh nationalist organisations. Iwan's early career has been described as playing a major role "in mobilising the Welsh popular music scene in a nationalist linguistic direction".[4]

However, by the time Iwan came to write "Yma o Hyd", his life and career was much more troubled, having been imprisoned four times for his activism and also in the middle of a "terrible divorce".[5] Iwan was also "feeling demoralised" by recent political events; including the rejection of a devolved Welsh government in a 1979 referendum and the political ideology of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, which was soon to cause the 1984 Miners' Strike.[6]

"It was a terrible time and the Thatcher regime hit Wales heavily. Coal mines and steelworks were closed and I was in the middle of a terrible divorce. Yma o Hyd is about how we're still here, despite everything and everyone and even ourselves."

— Dafydd Iwan on his inspiration for writing the song.[5]

It was against this background that Iwan was looking to write a song that would "raise the spirits". During a conversation with his friend, the historian and Plaid Cymru MP Gwynfor Evans, Iwan is said to have been given the initial idea for the song, which draws parallels between what he saw as the contemporary threats to Wales and the historical threats the Welsh people had suffered, confronted, and survived since Magnus Maximus (Welsh: Macsen Wledig) withdrew the Legions at the de facto end of Roman rule. As such, Iwan hoped the song would "remind people we still speak Welsh against all odds. To show we are still here".[7][6]

Composition

The song consists of three verses and a repeated chorus, with the opening and closing verses reference Macsen Wledig. Macsen is a prominent figure in Medieval Welsh literature, recorded in the sixth century by Gildas and in the ninth century work, Historia Brittonum where Macsen is said to have transferred authority back to British rulers. As such, Macsen is the common progenitor listed in the earliest Welsh genealogies and on the Pillar of Eliseg, erected by a Welsh king who was still claiming Macsen as an ancestor nearly 500 years after he left Britain. He was considered the founding father of several medieval Welsh dynasties, including those of the Kingdom of Powys and the Kingdom of Gwent, and he figures in lists of the Fifteen Tribes of Wales.[8] In Welsh legend, Macsen appears in stories such as Breuddwyd Macsen Wledig (English: The Dream of Ruler Maximus) which features in the White Book of Rhydderch.[9][10][11]

"Yma o Hyd" utilises a common understanding of Welsh history's long continuity. The campaigns of Macsen Wledig and the turmoil caused by the first government of Margaret Thatcher, parallel the adversities of ancient Wales with those of the modern nation.

In "Yma o Hyd", Iwan uses the still common knowledge of Macsen to show that the memory and culture of the Ancient Britons is still here, with the Welsh language being a Brythonic language that the ancient Britons would have spoken.[12]

The third verse references Macsen alongside the 18th-century caricature Dic Siôn Dafydd and the contemporary figure of Margaret Thatcher. Iwan hoped to parallel the troubles of ancient Wales with the more modern threats to the nation, to demonstrate the fortitude and survival of the Welsh culture at a time he felt it was most threatened.[13]

Cultural impact

Iwan debuted the song on his 1983 tour with the folk band Ar Log. The "Macsen tour" (named for "Yma o Hyd"'s references to Macsen Wledig) was a great success, with Iwan and Ar Log deciding to release a joint album of the new music later in the year.[14]

As a response to Thatcherism

During the 1984-85 miners' strike, Iwan would sing "Yma o Hyd" on the picket lines on numerous occasions, as well as performing it for quarry workers and farmers. Iwan stated that "the effects of Thatcherism were so blatant, so far-reaching. And Welshness was in turmoil. "Yma o Hyd" was a deliberate antidote to that".[6]

It has been suggested that the song played a "not insignificant" role in raising the morale of Welsh nationalists during Margaret Thatcher's 1980s tenure as Prime Minister of the UK.[7] The original version of the song refers to Thatcher, "Er gwaetha hen Fagi a'i chriw" ('Despite old Maggie and her crew').[15] Following Thatcher's ordered closure of Welsh and other British mines, fewer than 40% of Welsh households were headed by someone in full-time employment by 1986 and "two-thirds of Welsh miners would become redundant".[15][16]

Impact on education and language

The song also inspired a resurgence of support for Welsh medium education and (amongst other factors) contributed to the delivery of the Education Reform Act 1988. The song also contributed to support for the Welsh language, namely the Welsh Language Act 1993, which placed Welsh on equal footing with English in Wales for the first time in British history.[7]

Impact on devolution and nationalism

The song contributed to support for a National Assembly for Wales (later renamed Senedd) and in 1997 the Welsh electorate voted in favour of Welsh devolution.[7] In January 2020, the song reached number one in the UK iTunes chart, spurred on by purchases by supporters of Welsh independence group YesCymru. The campaign mirrored the success of The Wolfe Tones' song "Come Out, Ye Black and Tans" earlier that month.[17]

In sport

Rugby

Even before the release of "Yma o Hyd", Iwan's music had a long association with rugby and specifically Llanelli RFC. Iwan was a rugby fan since his youth in Brynaman,[18] and had a long friendship with the Llanelli player Ray Gravell since the 1970s when Iwan was imprisoned for refusing to pay his fines for defacing English only road signs, Gravell ensured Iwan's release from jail by paying his fines for him.[19]

As a fan of Iwan's music, Gravell would sing his songs before his Llanelli, Wales, and British & Irish Lions matches.[20][21] The song itself would become an official team anthem in the 1990s when Gravell became president of the club and arranged for the song to be played every time Llanelli and the Scarlets scored.[22][23] Since the Parc y Scarlets stadium was opened in 2008, the words "Yma o Hyd" has been displayed above the players tunnel.[24]

Football

Graffiti in Caernarfon depicting Welsh soccer player Gareth Bale next to the words "Yma o Hyd"

By 2019, songs that were more associated with Welsh rugby crowds were being sung by football fans at Wales international matches at the Cardiff City Stadium,[25] and the song became an unofficial anthem for supporters of Wrexham AFC and Cardiff City FC.[26]

The Wales player Chris Gunter brought the song to the attention of the national squad during their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, playing it "every day before training and on the coach"[27] Welsh players made a request for Iwan to perform live before Wales' penultimate game of the campaign. Iwan accepted, playing the song before Wales won the game 2–1.[15] Iwan was again invited to perform before Wales' final match of the qualification campaign which they also won, qualifying for their first World Cup since 1958.[28][29]

A new version of the song was recorded as the official song for Wales at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[30]

Use in media

  • A chapter on the history of the song and its context appears in Siôn Jobbins's book The Phenomenon of Welshness, or 'How many aircraft carriers would an independent Wales need?'.[31]
  • A version of the song appears in the Welsh black comedy film The Toll, released in the UK in 2021.[32]
  • The song was sampled in a bilingual rap song as part of Wales' FIFA World Cup campaign by rap artist Sage Todz, titled "O Hyd".[33]
  • Episode 10 of season 2 of Welcome to Wrexham covers the Gresford disaster and closes the episode with a subtitled rendition of "Yma o Hyd".

References

  1. ^ "Dafydd Iwan hits the number one spot with Yma o Hyd". 8 June 2022.
  2. ^ "YesCymru_Results_221125.xlsm". Google Docs. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  3. ^ Thomas, Ned (1973). The Welsh Extremist (in Welsh) (2nd ed.). Tal-y-bont: Y Lolfa. pp. 17, 21.
  4. ^ Roger Wallis and Krister Malm (1984). "Sain Cymru: The Role of the Welsh Phonographic Industry in the Development of a Welsh Language Pop/Rock/Folk Scene". Popular Music. 3: 85.
  5. ^ a b McRae, Donald (19 November 2022). "'Still here': a Welsh World Cup odyssey sets seal on emotional awakening". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  6. ^ a b c Thomas, Rhys (2 June 2022). "Yma o Hyd: the defiant Welsh folk song that's been 1,600 years in the making". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d Dr E. Wyn James (2005). "Painting the World Green: Dafydd Iwan and the Welsh Protest Ballad". Folk Music Journal. 8 (5): 594–618.
  8. ^ Rachel Bromwich, editor and translator. Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Welsh Triads. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, Third Edition, 2006. 441–444
  9. ^ Giles, John Allen, ed. (1841), "The Works of Gildas", The Works of Gildas and Nennius, London: James Bohn, p. 13, The History, ch. 14.
  10. ^ Phillimore, Egerton, ed. (1887), "Pedigrees from Jesus College MS. 20", Y Cymmrodor, vol. VIII, Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, pp. 83–92
  11. ^ Phillimore, Egerton (1888), "The Annales Cambriae and Old Welsh Genealogies, from Harleian MS. 3859", in Phillimore, Egerton (ed.), Y Cymmrodor, vol. IX, Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, pp. 141–183
  12. ^ Lamb, William Glenn (1 March 2020). "Dafydd Iwan's Yma o Hyd Overtakes Stormzy and Lewis Capaldi to Top iTunes Chart". www.thenewfederalist.eu. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  13. ^ "The top 12 most satisfying Welsh language insults to aim at your worst enemy – or your mates". Nation.Cymru. 2022-04-28. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
  14. ^ "Dafydd Iwan ac Ar Log - Yma o Hyd". SainWales.com (in Welsh). Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  15. ^ a b c "Yma o Hyd: the defiant Welsh folk song that's been 1,600 years in the making". The Guardian. 2022-06-02. Retrieved 2022-06-14.
  16. ^ Shipton, Martin (2014-03-03). "Margaret Thatcher 'lied to miners about jobs and the extent of her plans to close pits'". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2022-06-14.
  17. ^ Stephens, Lydia (12 January 2020). "A Welsh folk legend is outselling Stormzy in the iTunes charts". Walesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  18. ^ Gower, Jon (30 December 2023). "Review: Still Singing 'Yma o Hyd' by Dafydd Iwan". Nation.Cymru. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  19. ^ "Rugby legend Ray Gravell helped get Yma O Hyd singer Dafydd Iwan out of jail, new book claims". ITV. 30 October 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  20. ^ Goldman, Lawrence, ed. (2013). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2005-2008. Oxford: OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-967154-0.
  21. ^ Meirion, Rhys (2018). Storis Grav (in Welsh). [S.l.]: Y Lolfa. ISBN 9781784616830. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  22. ^ Jones, Craig Owen (2015). "5". Sites of popular music heritage : memories, histories, places. New York: Routledge. pp. 62–63. ISBN 9781134103188. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  23. ^ "New book by legendary folk singer Dafydd Iwan tells the stories behind his songs". Nation Cymru. 7 June 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  24. ^ Gibbard, Alun (2012). Who beat the All Blacks?. Tal-y-bont: Y Lolfa. ISBN 9781847717115.
  25. ^ Caine, Greg (2 December 2019). "How Welsh rugby can emulate the football and get its atmosphere back". Nation.Cymru. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  26. ^ "Yma o Hyd: the defiant Welsh folk song that's been 1,600 years in the making". The Guardian. 2022-06-02. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
  27. ^ Coleman, Tom (2022-03-29). "Yma o Hyd full lyrics, meaning and why Wales football fans started singing it". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2022-06-14.
  28. ^ Mitchelmore, Ian (2022-03-28). "The player behind Dafydd Iwan's iconic Yma o Hyd rendition revealed". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
  29. ^ Williams, Glen (2022-06-05). "Gareth Bale leads brilliant rendition of Yma o Hyd after Wales beat Ukraine". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
  30. ^ "World Cup 2022: The music video for Yma O Hyd is here". ITV News. 2022-11-07. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
  31. ^ Jobbins, Sion (2011). The phenomenon of Welshness : or, "How many aircraft carriers would an independent Wales have?". Gwasg Carreg Gwalch.
  32. ^ "Tollbooth (2021) Soundtracks". IMDb.
  33. ^ "Watch: Stunning new version of 'Yma o Hyd' by Welsh Drill artist Sage Todz released". Nation.Cymru. 2022-06-02. Retrieved 2022-06-14.
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