Welsh Journals

Ieuan Gethin flourished about the same time as Dafydd Ab Edmund. He was not so celebrated as that poet, and was not to be compared with him for quickness of versification, but was far his superior in fancy and originality. It is believed that he was a native of South Wales, but his birthplace and place of residence are not known, nor his rank in life. "Gethin" signifies "dun" or "dismal," so the name "Ieuan Gethin" may be translated "Dismal Jack" it was probably either a nickname or a poetical name. The piece by which he is principally known is an elegy on John the Thatcher, the father of the celebrated poet Gwilym ap Ieuan Hen, who broke his neck by pulling off a roof. This Gwilym5 ap Ieuan Hen or Williams son of John the Aged, was a cele- brated poet of South Wales. From the jocular spirit in which the elegy is written, one is almost led to suppose that7 Ieuan Gethin was the thatcher alluded to in it, that Ieuan Gethin was the father of William son of Old Jack and that the accident was imaginary and the elegy a pleasant piece of ridicule on himself. It is hardly to be supposed that a man of any feeling would have treated so melancholy an accident with so much levity, had it really occurred. William, son of old John, whom we have just mentioned, seems to have reached his zenith about the year 1460. He composed an elegy on Gruffydd Ab Nicholas of Tre Newydd in Dinefwr, the very same chieftain who presided at the cele- brated eisteddfod at Carmarthen, at which Dafvdd Ab Edmund obtained the prize. In this piece William, son of old John, shows that he possessed not the bathos but the art of rising in poetry, for after saying that Gruffydd was a • "Justice at the expense of the Saxon," he states that he was lord of seven castles and had seven palaces at his disposal. William's best piece, however, was a cowydd addressed to two prison- ers in the castle* of Harlech. It contains some truly sublime lines, amongst which are six to the following effect: Ne'er doubt that God his aid will lend, Or that the daily bread he'll send; He'll break a hole in yonder tower And rescue ye from tyrant's power; What's difficult to mortal eye Seems easy to the Deity. Balch oedd fy mryd o weled dros y don Yng ngoleu'r machlud gyrrau gwlad yr hedd, A chredu llais yr hiraeth yn fy mron,- Fod gennyf hawl i fyw heb brofi bedd. Draw dros y gorwel cilia'r haul bob dydd A'm gadael innau'n drist, i'm byd yn gaeth; Rhy bell oedd etifeddiaeth plentyn ffydd, Ac yn ei drallod wylai ar y traeth. The poet observes a kind of mysterious retic- ence* about these prisoners, which does not fail to heighten the interest which we take in their fate. He tell us that their names were Owain and Harri and that they were captured at the close of a dreary battle in which Grey Shenkyn was slain. But he leaves us in the dark with respect to the name of the battle and the person who imprisoned them. They were probably adherents of the house of York and were imprisoned by orders of Queen Margaret. Ieuan Deulwyn was a bard and friend of Rhys Ap Thomas, whose praises he delighted to sing. Perhaps the reader does not know who Rhys Ap10 Thomas was; if so, the more shame for him. Rhys Ap11 Thomas was the grandson of the Gruffydd Ab Nicholas, justice of the peace and lord of seven castles and seven palaces, who held the eisteddfod at Carmarthen in 1450. Nothing more? Yes, something more. Rhys Ap Thomas was the person to whom Harry, Duke of Rich- mond, was indebted for the crown of England. Rhys Ap Thomas at the head of "all the Rices" joined Henry at Carmarthen, just at the moment that he was about to turn and with his handful of dispirited and frightened followers to make the best of his way back to his half-dozen fishing smacks in Milford Haven. So without Rice Ap Thomas there would have been no battle of Bosworth Field, no Henry the Seventh and Eighth, or if there had been, probably very differ- ent from those personages called so in our history, possibly no pulling down of rooks' nests, no Reformation. Perhaps no person born in Britain ever exercised greater influence over its destinies than Rhys Ap12 Thomas, and before speaking of "Jack of the two Groves" that is, Ieuan Deulwyn interpreted, we wish to relate something more of the history of Rhys Ap18 Thomas. « M.S. Ieuan. • John. M.S. than. M.S. Castel. M. S. retinescence. « M.S. Ab. 11 M.S. Ab. « M.S. Ab. 13 M.S. Ab. Evidently it was Borrow's intention to insert here the account of Rhys ap Thomas already printed in The Welsh Outlook. (To be continued). EIRE. Neithiwr ym mrig yr hwyr roies eto dro I'r fan lie megais lawer gobaith drud, 'Roedd swn y llanw mor gras wrth sugno'r gro, Ac i'r gorllewin syllwn innau'n fud Ond cofiais am y wlad a'i hawl dan draed, A gwelais haul yn marw yn ei waed. Coleg Iesu. D. Lloyd-Jenkins.