DAVIES, ROBERT (Bardd Nantglyn; 1769 - 1835), poet and grammarian

Name: Robert Davies

Author: Thomas Parry

Born in the parish of Nantglyn, Denbighshire. He was a tailor by trade. In 1800 he went to London, where he stayed for four or five years and became a prominent member of the Gwyneddigion Society, being appointed bard and secretary to the society. The eisteddfodau patronized by the Gwyneddigion towards the end of the 18th century and the provincial eisteddfodau of the early 19th century were warmly supported by him. It was he who won the prize at Caerwys in 1798 for an awdl on ‘Cariad i’n Gwlad,’ and in the provincial eisteddfod of Dyfed held at Carmarthen in 1819 he was co-adjudicator with Iolo Morganwg. His successes included the prize at Wrexham in 1820 for an awdl on the death of George III, and several prizes at Beaumaris in 1832. But his eisteddfod activities brought him also a good deal of notoriety, as it was he, together with William Owen Pughe and Dewi Silin (David Richards, 1783 — 1826), who gave the prize to Edward Hughes (1772 — 1850) of Bodfari instead of to Dewi Wyn (David Owen, 1784 — 1841) for an awdl on ‘Elusengarwch’ at the Denbigh eisteddfod of 1819. Some of his poems were published in 1798 under the title Cnewyllyn mewn Gwisg, which was followed in 1803 by Barddoniaeth, a volume consisting mostly of his own compositions, but also including some by other poets of the period. A selection of his works appeared under the title Diliau Barddas in 1827. His best and most famous poem is the witty satire called ‘Ewyllys Adda.’ The treatise on Welsh grammar, Ieithiadur neu Ramadeg Cymraeg, first published in 1808, with a second edition in 1818 and a third in 1826, shows the influence on the author of the grammars used by the bards of the 15th and 16th century, the works of William Owen Pughe, and the Egluryn Phraethineb of Henry Perri but there is also abundant evidence of Bardd Nantglyn’s own study of the subject. At the end of the book the author printed the rules of Welsh prosody, which had been formulated by Dafydd Ddu Eryri (David Thomas, 1759 — 1822) and which Bardd Nantglyn published, with minor alterations, without reference to their true author. He died 1 December 1835.