Yma o Hyd

Yma o Hyd (English: Still Here) is a patriotic song in the Welsh language released by Dafydd Iwan in 1983. The song extols the survival of the Welsh people and the Welsh language over the nearly two millennia since Magnus Maximus, in the hopes of becoming Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, withdrew the Roman legions from Britain and invaded Gaul in 383 AD. Maximus' subsequent death at the Battle of Poetovio in 388 AD, at the hands of an army led by his kinsman Emperor Theodosius I, marked the end, in the view of some historians, of Roman rule in Britain.[1]

Welsh historian and Plaid Cymru Member of Parliament Gwynfor Evans is said to have given Dafydd Iwan the idea for the song.[2]

The song proudly proclaims Ry'n ni yma o hyd, er gwaetha pawb a phopeth which translates as "We're still here, in spite of everyone and everything." It also promises the continuing survival of the Welsh people and their language "until Judgement Day" – a subtle reference to the famous conversation recorded by Gerald of Wales between King Henry II of England and an elderly Welshman during one of his campaigns in the 12th century. Of the continued survival of the Welsh nation the old man told the king;

"Never will it be destroyed by the wrath of man, unless the wrath of God be added, nor do I think that any other nation than this of Wales, or any other tongue, whatever may hereafter come to pass, shall on the day of the great reckoning before the Most High Judge, answer for this corner of the Earth."[3]

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?' (Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, 2011).

It has been alleged 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 United Kingdom. The song also inspired a resurgence of support for Welsh medium education and (amongst other factors) culminating in three key Acts of Parliament: the Education Reform Act of 1988, the Welsh Language Act of 1993 and the Government of Wales Act of 1998 (the latter of which authorized the establishment of a National Assembly for Wales in 1999).[2]

Today, Yma o Hyd remains very popular with Welsh folk music fans and is widely considered second only to Hen Wlad fy Nhadau as the official national anthem of Wales.[4] It has also become a popular song sung by Scarlets fans (firstly at Stradey Park, and at their new home Parc y Scarlets). Dafydd Iwan performed the song pitchside at both stadiums. Wrexham FC fans also sing this at their home stadium, Racecourse Ground. Since the 2021/2022 Championship season it has been played at the Cardiff City FC Stadium before games. It also became an unofficial anthem for supporters of the Welsh national football team, with Iwan performing the song live pitchside before Wales' 2-1 World Cup Playoff semi-final victory over Austria in March 2022

On 12 January 2020, following a campaign by the Welsh independence group YesCymru, Yma o Hyd reached number one on the iTunes singles charts.[5]