Collections & Research

On his death over 100 years ago, Alfred Russel Wallace was widely praised as the 'last of the great Victorians'. But who was he?

Wallace was many things - an intrepid explorer, a brilliant naturalist, a social activist - overall a remarkable man. In his time he collected over 125 000 animal specimens, published more than 800 articles and wrote 22 books.

He is most famously associated with co-discovering the process of evolution by natural selection alongside Charles Darwin. Yet we have all heard of Darwin, whilst Wallace had become more of a forgotten figure.

In 2013 AC-NMW produced an exhibition commemorating the life and work of this great man. This exhibition has now journeyed westwards to the Oriel y Parc Gallery in St Davids, and can be explored by visitors until the 25th November.

Wythnos nesaf bydd Caerffili a’r cylch yn croesawu Eisteddfod yr Urdd a dros 15,000 o blant a phobl ifanc i’r dref i gystadlu mewn cystadlaethau megis canu, dawnsio a pherfformio. Uchafbwynt yr ŵyl i lawer fydd seremoni’r coroni a chadeirio.

Ar y penwythnos yma, ganrif yn ôl, bu Kate hefyd yn ymweld ag Eisteddfod, sef Eisteddfod Llanuwchllyn 1915.

Enillydd cadair Eisteddfod Llanuwchllyn y diwrnod hynny oedd neb llai, nag Hedd Wyn, un o brif ffigurau llenyddol Cymru.

Y gadair yma oedd y bedwaredd gadair iddo ennill mewn eisteddfod leol, a’i ffugenw oedd ‘Fleur-de-lis’, enw a ddefnyddiodd sawl tro wrth gystadlu. Dyma hefyd oedd yr eildro iddo ennill cadair Eisteddfod Llanuwchllyn. Yn yr eisteddfod gyntaf, yn ôl llafar gwlad, bu’n rhaid cadeirio Hedd Wyn yn ei absenoldeb, oherwydd iddo adael yr eisteddfod yng nghwmni un o ferched y fro, ac aros allan gyda hi.

Derbyniodd glod aruthrol yn y ddwy eisteddfod. Meddai’r beirniad ym 1913:

Well done Hedd Wyn, dos yn mlaen hyd nes cyrhaedd Cadair Genedlaethol.

A dyna be wnaeth – yn 1915 aeth ati i geisio am Gadair Genedlaethol Eisteddfod Bangor ond ni ddaeth i’r brig y tro yna. T.H Parry Williams a gipiodd y gadair a’r goron y flwyddyn hynny.

Er iddo golli ym Mangor, ddwy flynedd yn ddiweddarach, bu iddo ennill Cadair Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Penbedw 1917, ond yn dorcalonnus, bu farw mewn brwydr yng ngwlad Belg rhai wythnosau ynghynt. Yn ystod y ddefod, gosodwyd gorchudd du dros y Gadair.

Bu eisteddfodau yn elfen bwysig o fywydau'r Gymru yn ystod y Rhyfel. Fe roddodd gyfle i bobl ddod at ei gilydd i fwynhau ag anghofio pryderon rhyfel, pe bai hynny ond am ysbaid fechan. Mewn cyfnod o ansicrwydd, dychryn a pherygl fe fydda’r eisteddfod yn corddi ymdeimlad o ysbryd cymunedol, nid yn unig ar y ffrynt Gartref ond hefyd i filwyr hiraethus o Gymru:

The Welshmen in khaki could not let Easter go by without his feast of song, and “somewhere in England” the lads from the Principality had a Welsh Divisional Eisteddfod. Cambrian Daily Leader, 25 Ebrill 1916  

We have created word clouds based on the most commonly used terms in the responses to two questions on display in the exhibition. Figure 1 shows the feedback to the question "Which object would you recommend to a friend?" and Figure 2 shows the terms used to the query "How do you feel surrounded by so many fragile objects?".

We hope to periodically produce these word clouds; they may show that the most frequently used terms change over time or that they remain the same. Interesting conclusions could be drawn from either. If they change it could be that people will appreciate certain works due to the time of year, the likelihood that they attended an event or changing fashions. If they remain unchanged the conclusion could be drawn that some works resonate strongly with the majority of visitors.

The questions are posed using two methods on the landing of the west wing galleries; as a comments section on the iPad's and a bulletin board with paper and pencils provided to write a response (Figure 3).

These questions were posed to combat the standard "What do you think of the exhibition?". Rather we wanted to create questions which would encourage key concepts of the exhibition: to stimulate curiosity and encourage debate. This (we hope!) will happen through visitors reading the questions and considering their own responses and by seeing the responses of others which are left on display in the space.

Excitingly we have found visitors have taken to this style of questioning; the responses to the question about recommending an object to a friend (on the "bulletin board") have been through text and images with some visitors expanding upon why they like certain works (Figure 4) . In the comments field on the iPad's which asks about personal experience in the exhibition we have been interested to seeing the varying reactions. Such as a visitor on the 5th May who responded: "Scared worried but its lovely" or from the 16th May "I really liked the pull between wanting to touch and not being able to touch. When i stepped into the first installation i was overwhelmed with a child like want to feel and discover for myself.".

Let us know If you have any comments on the exhibition, questions or if there's a subject you'd like to see a future blog post about. By Penelope Hines & Jennifer Dudley

Yn dilyn ymlaen o flog Elen am Wersyll Carcharorion Frongoch, dw i am dynnu eich sylw at y gwrthrychau sydd gennym yn ein casgliadau sy’n gysylltiedig â charcharorion rhyfel neu gwersylloedd rhyfel yn ystod y ddau ryfel byd.

Am gyfod byr bu’r peilot Arthur Wellesley Rees Evans yn garcharor rhyfel pan saethwyd ei awyren i lawr tra ar ei ffordd i fomio Cologne yn ystod y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf. Mae ei gasgliad gennym yn yr archif yn Sain Ffagan ac yn cynnwys dogfennau megis canllawiau am gyfathrebu â charcharorion rhyfel sydd wedi'u caethiwo dramor, canllawiau'r Pwyllgor Canolog Carcharorion Rhyfel ynghylch anfon parseli bwyd i garcharorion rhyfel yn yr Almaen, yn ogystal â cherdyn post o Wersyll Carcharorion Rhyfel Limburg yn hysbysu ei deulu ei fod yn garcharor rhyfel.

Mae enghreifftiau gennym hefyd o wrthrychau a wnaed gan garcharorion rhyfel Almaeneg a Thwrcaidd yn ystod y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf. Mae'r rhain yn cynnwys set ysmygu a wnaed gan garcharor Almaeneg mewn gwersyll carcharorion rhyfel ym Mhenarth, a model gleinwaith o neidr gyda chameleon yn ei geg gyda'r geiriau 'TURKISH PRISONER 1917'.

Mae pawb yn gyfarwydd â’r ddelwedd o garcharorion rhyfel Prydeinig yn brwydro ac yn dianc o wersylloedd y gelyn yn ystod yr Ail Ryfel Byd mewn storïau anhygoel megis ‘The Great Escape’ neu ‘Pum Cynnig i Gymro’.

Mae stori

yn debyg iawn i’r storïau hyn. Bu’n aelod o’r RAF, a chymrodd rhan mewn nifer o chyrchfaoedd bomio yn ystod yr Ail Ryfel Byd. Saethwyd ei awyren i lawr yn Mai 1943, a chafodd ei ddal gan yr Almaenwyr tra’n lloches gyda theulu Ffleminaidd. Danfonwyd Cecil i wersyll carcharorion rhyfel Almaeneg, Stalag Luft 3, ond nid oedd yn bwriadu treulio gweddill y rhyfel y tu ôl i’r weiren bigog. Felly, mi ddihangodd

cyn cael ei ddal eto gan yr Almaenwyr a’i ddanfon yn ôl i’r gwersyll. Rhoddwyd ei gasgliad o ddogfennau i’r Amgueddfa ddwy flynedd yn ôl, ac mae’n gasgliad hynod ddiddorol. Mae’n cynnwys cynlluniau i ddianc , mapiau hancesi papur , trwyddedau ffug gyda’r stamp Natsïaidd , a hyd yn oed ambell i Reichsmarks!

‘Drown’d in drowsy sleep, of nothing he takes keep’. These were the words that William Goscombe John chose to accompany his sculpture Morpheus when it was first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1891.

The caption was taken from the 16^th century poem The Fairie Queene by Edmund Spenser, although it is not a direct quotation. This epic allegorical poem follows the journey of several Arthurian knights as they battle their way through a mythical fairyland.

Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams, plays a small role in The Fairie Queene. He is called upon to help the black sorcerer Archimago trap Redcrosse, one of the Christian knights. He does this by conjuring up a false dream of love and lust to fool Redcrosse into believing that his lover Una has been ‘sporting’ with another knight. This leads to Redcrosse abandoning her and continuing his quest alone.

In this sculpture Morpheus is shown asleep - or perhaps softly stirring from sleep, his arms stretched languidly above his head. Apart from this, John makes no other reference to the narrative of The Fairie Queene and it is not clear why he would have chosen to depict a figure who plays a relatively small role in the story, and in Greek mythology.

We might say that the mythological theme was a pretext for depicting a nubile male nude. Alternatively, we might see it as a statement about the role of the figurative sculptor. In mythology, Morpheus had one great power: he could mimic the human form, and trick people into seeing physical bodies that are not really there.

Stephanie Roberts and Penelope Hines