Awen female given name. It appears in the third stanza of Hen Wlad fy Nhadau, the national anthem of Wales. "Awen" derives from the Indo-European root "*-uel", meaning 'to blow', and has the same root as the Welsh word "awel" meaning 'breeze'. The first recorded attestation of the word occurs in Nennius' "Historia Brittonum", a Latin text of c. 796, based in part on earlier writings by the Welsh monk, Gildas. It occurs in the phrase 'Tunc talhaern tat aguen in poemate claret' (Talhaern the father of the muse was then renowned in poetry) where the Old Welsh word "aguen" (awen)
Côr Meibion Pontypridd Gwilym T Jones was appointed conductor and Miss Agnes Wilson accompanist. The first concert was performed in June 1950. The following year the choir started entering competitions, and were awarded first prize at the Llanharan "Semi National" Eisteddfod, and were again placed first two weeks later at Glynneath. The choir were involved in celebrations of the centenary of the composition of Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau and the bicentenary of the Old Bridge, Pontypridd. Stuart Burrows was the guest artiste at a concert in 1959, and in the same year Harry Secombe and Geraint Evans appeared together for the first time,