Richard Davies (Mynyddog)
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Richard Davies (Mynyddog) (10 January 1833 – 14 July 1877) was a popular Welsh-language poet, singer, and Eisteddfod conductor. The original source of the name Mynyddog is from Newydd Fynyddog, a hill near his home. Another submission is the name comes from Mynyddog Mwynfawr, a character in an early Welsh poem. Use of an adopted Welsh-language pseudonym or bardic name (ffug enw) is common among Welsh poets.
Birth and upbringing
He was born at Dôl Lydan, Llanbrynmair, Montgomeryshire, in a farmhouse called "Y Fron".[1] His father, Daniel Davies, was deacon and precentor in Hen Gapel, while his mother, Jane, belonged to a bookish family. He was christened by John Roberts (1767–1834). When he was two years old, his parents moved to Fron in the same parish. He spent his early days as a farmer and shepherd, and was educated at the chapel school kept by the younger John Roberts (1804–1884). His open-air life in rural Wales among rural folk remained a central element of his work.
Literary career
Later life
On 25 September 1871 he married Ann Elizabeth, daughter of Aaron Francis of Rhyl, and built a new house, Bron-y-gân, at Cemmaes, Montgomeryshire. In 1876, after conducting the "Black Chair Eisteddfod" at Wrexham, he accepted the invitation of his friends to visit America for the sake of his health, but this continued to deteriorate, and he returned to Bron-y-gân, where he died on 14 July 1877. He was buried in Hen Gapel graveyard on 19 July.[2]
Works
- Caneuon Mynyddog (1866)
- Yr Ail Gynnig (1870)
- Y Trydydd Cynnig (1877)
- Pedwerydd Llyfr Mynyddog (1882)
- Owen Morgan Edwards (ed.), Gwaith Mynyddog (Llanuwchllyn, 1914)
Biography
- T. R. Roberts, Mynyddog (1909)
References
- ↑ Thomas Hughes Jones. "Davies, Richard (Mynyddog; 1833-1877), poet, singer, and eisteddfod conductor". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ↑ Montgomery-shire Collections. Powys-land Club. 1877. p. 2.