Goronwy Owen letters

A volume, 1855 (watermark 1845), in the hand of John Hughes, Llanerchymedd, Anglesey, containing transcripts of letters and poetry, and other texts.
The volume contains items apparently copied from an untraced manuscript of John William Prichard (ff. 1 verso-25 verso), including transcripts of seven letters, 1751-1757, from Goronwy Owen to William Morris (ff. 2-20 verso, Welsh, English), and one, 1741, from Goronwy Owen to Owen Meyrick (ff. 21-22 verso, Latin, English), all of which appear in The Letters of Goronwy Owen (1723-1769), ed. by J. H. Davies (Cardiff, 1924); a transcript of a letter, 1806, from William Owen-Pughe to Prichard (f. 25 recto-verso); Goronwy Owen's Latin poem 'On Captain Thomas Ffoulkes' Escape…' (ff. 23-24); and englyns in Latin, English and Welsh by Edward Morris (f. 24). The volume also contains a copy of a poem ascribed to Robert Duke of Normandy but probably written by Iolo Morganwg (see The Gentleman's Magazine, 76 (1794), 981) (ff. 26 verso-27); a translation into English [by John Hughes] of the poem 'Y Gorwynion' (ff. 27 verso-31); a list describing the parish churches of Anglesey and their founders (ff. 68-74 verso); and descriptions of the Fifteen Tribes of North Wales (and a few others), with the blazons of their arms (ff. 76-81 verso). Items found loose within the volume (7 ff.) have been tipped in on blank leaves (ff. 32-34, 83), with the exception of a copy, 1799, by John William Prichard, of the poem 'Yr Eneth o'r Bryn', said to have been translated from English by Goronwy Owen (see Alan Llwyd, Gronwy Ddiafael, Gronwy Ddu: Cofiant Goronwy Owen 1723-1769 (1997), p. 58), which is loose at the end of the volume (f. 137).

William Owen-Pughe was born in Llanfihangel-y-Pennant, Merioneth and brought up in a farmhouse called Egryn in Ardudwy. He moved to London in 1776, where he committed himself to the London Welsh community, becoming a member of both the Gwyneddigion Society and the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion. He was made a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and corresponded with many scholarly figures of his day. Like his contemporary 'Iolo Morganwg', who greatly influenced him, Pughe held somewhat idiosyncratic ideas concerning the Welsh language and its origins. His own literary output, however, was prolific and included lexicographical works such as A Grammar of the Welsh Language and A Welsh and English Dictionary (both 1803) and translations such as Coll Gwynfa (1819), a Welsh rendering of Milton's 'Paradise Lost'. He was also principal editor of The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales (1801-1807) and the short-lived periodical Y Greal (1805-1807) and was a regular contributor to the newspapers and magazine publications of his day. Pughe conducted a close relationship with the writer and prophet Joanna Southcott from around 1803 until her death in 1814. Pughe's son Aneurin Owen was a historical scholar who received much of his early education from his father. He edited Ancient Laws and Institutes of Wales; comprising the Laws ... by Howel the Good ... (London, 1841) and was also a major, though unacknowledged, contributor to the prodigious chronicle Brut y Tywysogion (1860).

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Dewi and Rhys Jones; Benllech; Donation; September 2013; 006645274.

William Owen-Pughe was born in Llanfihangel-y-Pennant, Merioneth and brought up in a farmhouse called Egryn in Ardudwy. He moved to London in 1776, where he committed himself to the London Welsh community, becoming a member of both the Gwyneddigion Society and the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion. He was made a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and corresponded with many scholarly figures of his day. Like his contemporary 'Iolo Morganwg', who greatly influenced him, Pughe held somewhat idiosyncratic ideas concerning the Welsh language and its origins. His own literary output, however, was prolific and included lexicographical works such as A Grammar of the Welsh Language and A Welsh and English Dictionary (both 1803) and translations such as Coll Gwynfa (1819), a Welsh rendering of Milton's 'Paradise Lost'. He was also principal editor of The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales (1801-1807) and the short-lived periodical Y Greal (1805-1807) and was a regular contributor to the newspapers and magazine publications of his day. Pughe conducted a close relationship with the writer and prophet Joanna Southcott from around 1803 until her death in 1814. Pughe's son Aneurin Owen was a historical scholar who received much of his early education from his father. He edited Ancient Laws and Institutes of Wales; comprising the Laws ... by Howel the Good ... (London, 1841) and was also a major, though unacknowledged, contributor to the prodigious chronicle Brut y Tywysogion (1860).

Title based on contents.

The originals of the Goronwy Owen letters are said to have been in the possession of the Hughes family of Kinmel Park in 1822 (note by J. W. Prichard, transcribed on f. 1 verso).

Preferred citation: NLW MS 24047C.

Text

Spine missing.

August 2014.

Description compiled by Rhys Morgan Jones.

Usual copyright laws apply.

The volume was given to Rhys Jones by J. Tegwyn Thomas, Llanerchymedd, in about 1985.

Published

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales