Evan James (poet) were taken many years apart. Evan James (poet) Evan James (also known by the bardic name "Ieuan ap Iago") (1809 – 30 September 1878), a weaver and poet from Pontypridd, originally from Caerphilly, Wales, wrote the lyrics of "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" ("Land of my Fathers"), the national anthem of Wales. James, a weaver by trade, employed several people at his mill on the bank of the River Rhondda. According to family legend, his son James James, was walking one day in January 1856 on the banks of the river when the melody for "Hen Wlad fy Nhadau" came to
National anthem presence of the Monarch in some Commonwealth realms, was first performed in 1619 under the title "God Save the King". It is not officially the national anthem of the UK, though it became such through custom and usage. Spain's national anthem, the "Marcha Real" (The Royal March), written in 1761, was among the first to be adopted as such, in 1770. Denmark adopted the older of its two national anthems, "Kong Christian stod ved højen mast", in 1780; and "La Marseillaise", the French national anthem, was written in 1792 and adopted in 1795. Serbia became the first Eastern European nation