Actor, author, comedian, musician, poet and raconteur, Dewi Morris was a stalwart supporter of Welsh independence, a passionate defender of our besieged Welsh language communities, and a ‘Yes Cymru’ mainstay who was marching for the cause of Welsh freedom right through to the final illness that led to his death in August. He was an ebullient life-force, an integral component of popular Welsh culture, instantly recognisable with his grinning countenance under that emblematic beanie hat, and a great Welshman who will be sorely missed.
Dewi was authentically pan-Welsh, familiar with all parts of the country rather than being confined to a hyper-local enclave. He grew up in Treboeth, nowadays swallowed up by suburban Swansea but in his childhood an outlying village dominated by mining, tin-plate works and farming. He was lucky to have Welsh-speaking parents who made sure he went to Ysgol Gymraeg Lôn Las a couple of miles away at Llansamlet, one of the few Welsh medium primary schools that then existed in the area. This enabled him to acquire the precious gift of complete bilingualism – and also acquire his abiding nickname ‘Pws’ (puss – apparently he got up to some mischievous antics with a feline) to differentiate him from all the other Dewis at the school.
His secondary education was at Dynevor Grammar School in the centre of Swansea (closed in 2002, now the School of Art & Design of the University of Wales Trinity St David). During the 1960s he became involved with Yr Urdd youth movement and began developing his musical and performance expertise as well as his commitment to Wales. He drifted into teaching, as so many bright Welsh people did back then, relocating to Cardiff in 1966 to study at the Teacher Training College in Cyncoed (now part of Cardiff Met University). As a trainee he taught for two years in Moorland Road Primary School in Splott before concluding that teaching was not for him and bravely taking a different path more suited to his acting aspirations by getting work with Cwmni Theatr Cymru, an early attempt to create a National Theatre, based at the other end of Wales in Bangor.
Next, Dewi changed tack again by becoming a founding member in 1969 of pioneering Welsh language pop group Y Tebot Piws (The Purple Teapot) with friends he had met at Cyncoed Alun Huws (1948-2014), Emyr Huws Jones and Stanley Morgan-Jones. Lead singer and banjo player Dewi built a reputation as a charismatic all-round talent as Tebot Piws gigged all around Wales and Welsh labels Sain and Wren Records released four EPs of the group’s whimsical, catchy folk songs before they split up in 1972. For Tebot Piws, Dewi wrote many songs that have entered the Welsh song-book like the classic Lleucu Llwyd. Those song-writing skills were further underlined when he won the Cân i Gymru (Song for Wales) competition in 1971 with the powerful Nwy yn y Nen.
Then Dewi was integral to another trailblazing act in 1973 when he was a founding member of the first Welsh language rock band Edward H. Dafis, along with Cleif Harpwood, Hefin Elis, John Griffiths and Charli Britton (1953-2021). The band, sporting signature red and white neckerchiefs, were in the vanguard of eclectic, original Welsh music, dealing with political issues, stretching boundaries, experimenting across genres, performing live to enthusiastic audiences across Wales and releasing five excellent albums on Sain before breaking up in 1980.
By this time Pws was living in Tresaith in Ceredigion and concentrating more and more on his acting career. His breakthrough came in 1974 when he was awarded the part of Wayne Harries on a new BBC Wales soap-opera called Pobl y Cwm. When S4C was founded in 1982 the channel took over the broadcasting of Pobl y Cwm (still going strong today) and Pws played Wayne until 1987. Meanwhile he made an even bigger impression in the 1978 BBC Wales one-off comedy film Grand Slam, written by Gwenlyn Parry (1932-1991) and John Hefin (1941-2012), about the misadventures of four Welsh fans on a chaotic rugby trip to Paris. Pws co-starred with Hugh Griffith (1912-1980), Windsor Davies (1930-2019) and Sion Probert and firmly established himself as a major star.
In 1991 he married Rhiannon Roberts and they moved northwards to Gwynedd, the core of Cymru, firstly to Y Felinheli before settling in Nefyn on the Llŷn Peninsula. Over the years Pws became a familiar presence on Welsh (and sometimes even UK) TV in programmes such as Miri Mawr, Rownd a Rownd, Taff Acre, Hawkmoor, The Toll and Lan a Lawr, and increasingly he was utilised as a presenter and narrator in children’s programmes and documentaries. He could never be pigeon-holed: he wrote children’s and young adults’ books and a rip-roaring autobiography, he composed poetry, he was appointed Bardd Plant Cymru (Children’s Poet Laureate) in 2010/11, he never stopped playing his music, often in reunions with old pals from the past, and more and more he became a lucid, articulate persuasive campaigner and figurehead in the Welsh independence movement.
Pws was ever the timeless Welsh wizard, with a twinkle in his eye, a cheeky quip on his lips and a big rebel heart. At his funeral service in Bangor Crematorium, hundreds of mourners wearing red and white neckerchiefs gathered to pay tribute to the unforgettable man. They knew what Wales was losing; now all Welsh people with the courage and the comprehension must try to emulate his example and spread his irrefutable, irresistible message.
A really fitting tribute to someone so well known.