GRIFFITH, JOHN (fl. 1649-1669) of Llanddyfnan, Anglesey, squire poet

Name: John Griffith

Author: Emyr Gwynne Jones

Owing to the close proximity of so many John Griffiths in the family pedigree, it is difficult to identify him, but there is reason to believe that he was the seventh of that name and therefore the son of John Griffith VI and Dorcas, daughter of William Prydderch, died 1623, rector of Llanfechell. Little is known of him apart from his work, much of which, in the form of carols, englynion and cywyddau is to be found among the Mostyn, Llanstephan and Henblas manuscripts in the National Library of Wales and the additional manuscripts in the British Museum. A staunch Churchman and Royalist, he was strongly antagonistic to the Puritan régime, as is evident from many of his compositions in the free metres. His elegies on Edward Wynne of Bodewryd and Mrs. Lumley Lloyd of Lligwy, both dated 1669, are, it would appear, the latest extant examples of his work. According to the bishops’ transcripts (of the parish registers), a John Griffith was buried at Llanddyfnan 11 May 1675 but there is no certainty that he was the subject of this notice.