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Dafydd ap Gwilym

14th-century Welsh poet

  • 45 min read
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Life

Tradition has it that Dafydd was born at Brogynin, near Penrhyn-coch (at the time in Llanbadarn Fawr parish), Ceredigion, 6 or 7 miles from Aberystwyth. Although he does not mention Brogynin in his poems, in his poem Taith i Garu (Journey for Love) he mentions a number of places which are close by, showing that he was familiar with the region. He also mentions going to church in Llanbadarn Fawr in the poem Girls of Llanbadarn.

His father, Gwilym Gam, and mother, Ardudfyl, were both from noble families. As one of noble birth it seems Dafydd did not belong to the guild of professional poets in medieval Wales.

R. Geraint Gruffydd suggests c. 1315-c. 1350 as the poet's dates, and suggested that he might have died in the outbreak of the Black Death in 1349-50; others place him a little later, from c. 1320–40 to c. 1370–80. Occasional indications of a date are found in the poems themselves, mostly from the 1340s. The earliest of these is the mention of "Turel" in the poem Cusan, which might refer to Hugh Tyrrell, a Marcher lord, dating the poem to before his death in 1343. It appears that Dafydd spent some time at the home of his maternal uncle Llywelyn ap Gwilym, who held the office of Constable of Newcastle Emlyn (situated in Carmarthenshire between Cardigan and Carmarthen) from 1340 to 1346. He wrote a eulogy for him while he was alive and an elegy after his death in 1346. Another date is the mention of Calais in the poem Caer Rhag Cenfigen (A Fortress Against Envy), which is thought to be a reference to the Siege of Calais by Edward III in 1347. The last date that has been suggested is in the poem Rhagoriaeth y Bardd ar Arall (The Poet's Superiority or The Rival), in which Dafydd mentions a prisoner awaiting execution by the Pope; this is thought by some to be a reference to the Italian politician Cola di Rienzo or Rienzi, who was in prison in Avignon awaiting execution in late 1352; though others see the reference as insufficiently precise to be certain. There is no evidence of any later date in the poems. The poem The Clock, which describes a mechanical clock of a type not found in Britain until 1370, is sometimes cited, but on other grounds is probably not by Dafydd.

It has been speculated that Dafydd may have begun his education in Strata Florida Abbey in Carmarthenshire 16 miles south west of Aberystwyth, although there is no direct evidence for this.

It seems likely that he was encouraged to write poetry by his uncle Llywelyn ap Gwilym in Newcastle Emlyn, whom he calls cerddwriaeth ddoethineb "wisdom of the art of poetry" and llyfr dwned Dyfed "Dyfed's grammar book" and says of him Ys difai y'm dysgud "faultlessly you taught me".

Perhaps it was at this period that Dafydd visited the nobleman Ieuan ap Gruffudd ap Llywelyn, whose estate is believed to have been at Tywyn (Y Ferwig) near Cardigan about 13 miles north west of Newcastle Emlyn. It was here he met Dyddgu, Ieuan's daughter, to whom he addressed several love poems.

It was probably at this time that he also visited Carmarthen, 17 miles south of Newcastle Emlyn, and was inspired to write a devotional poem praising the rood cross in the church.

Later, Dafydd was befriended by the family of Ieuan Llwyd ab Ieuan ap Gruffudd Foel of Glyn Aeron (near Llangeitho about 17 miles south of Aberystwyth). Dafydd wrote two courtly love poems, one dated by a mention of Calais to 1347, and an elegy for Ieuan's wife Angharad as well as a false elegy for Ieuan's son Rhydderch. Ieuan Llwyd had in his possession the Hendregadredd Manuscript (originally begun in Strata Florida Abbey), into which various visiting poets wrote their work. In addition to the Elegy for Angharad and the Elegy for Rhydderch, it contains Dafydd's poem In Praise of the Rood of Carmarthen, written possibly in his own hand. An anonymous poem, possibly by Dafydd, lamenting the loss of his hair, was written on a leaf which is thought to have been part of this same manuscript but which got separated from it. Ieuan and Angharad's son, Rhydderch, also kept a famous manuscript book, called the White Book of Rhydderch, which contained the Mabinogion and other works. Among these is a short poem Englynion y Cusan, which may be by Dafydd. Apart from these four poems none of Dafydd's works are found in any manuscript for another 100 years, and it seems that during this period they were transmitted along with their music by being memorised by other bards, resulting in frequent variations in line order and in wording.

Three men connected with Dafydd ap Gwilym are mentioned in a legal document of 1344 from Aberystwyth. A certain Howel ap Gronow was required to pay a fine for stealing two silver cups from Robert le Northern, a bailiff of Aberystwyth. This Robert le Northern is believed to be the same man as Robin Nordd, the husband of Elen whom Dafydd calls one of his four great loves. Two men offered surety for Howel's fine: one was Ieuan Llwyd son of Ieuan Fwyaf, constable of Genau'r Glyn commote, just north of Aberystwyth, for whom Dafydd wrote a praise poem, describing him as his tadmaeth ("foster-father"); and the other was a certain "Ebowa Baghan", who is thought to be the same as the man in Dafydd calls y Bwa Bach ("the Little Bow"), a merchant of Aberystwyth, to whom Dafydd's beloved Morfudd was married.

If Dafydd's poem Y Gwynt (The Wind) can be trusted, it appears that Y Bwa Bach had made a legal complaint against Dafydd and had him banned from the district. This legal action is referred to again in Y Gal ("The Penis"), in which he rebukes his penis for getting him into trouble.

Dafydd travelled at least once to Bangor in Gwynedd, close to Anglesey, and to Newborough in Anglesey. He wrote a praise poem in honour of Newborough, as well as an anecdote of his failure to pick up a girl there, and a praise poem for Hywel, Dean of Bangor Cathedral, who was his host in Bangor. In another poem (Gwayw Serch) he mentions falling in love with a girl he spotted in Bangor cathedral. It was possibly on his return from this visit that he wrote Y Don ar Afon Dyfi (The Wave on the River Dyfi), complaining that the river was delaying him from getting back to Morfudd. According to the poem itself, Dafydd he was in Anglesey when he wrote his eulogy for Ieuan Llwyd son of Ieuan Fwyaf. A woman Dafydd claims to have loved came from Anglesey, and it would appear that the anonymous woman whom he claimed as his fourth great love came from Gwynedd.

Another important patron with whom Dafydd spent time was Ifor ap Llywelyn, known to later generations as Ifor Hael, of Bassaleg near Newport in Gwent. Dafydd composed a number of poems in his honour. In one of those poems Dafydd mentions a forthcoming visit to Gwynedd, but whether he made the visit is uncertain, since in another poem he refuses to go. It was once suggested that these poems were written not by Dafydd but by another, unknown poet; but they are now accepted as Dafydd's own work.

There are two rival traditions about Dafydd's burial place. One tradition, based on a poem by Gruffudd Gryg addressing a yew tree above Dafydd's grave at Strata Florida, says that he was buried within the precinct of the Cistercian Strata Florida Abbey, Ceredigion. However, according another tradition dating to about 1600 claims that the burial took place in the churchyard of Talley Abbey, about 27 miles to the south of Strata Florida. On 15 September 1984 a memorial stone was unveiled by a Prifardd to mark the site at Talley.

While it may be difficult to trace the exact years Dafydd was active, it is clear he wrote after Edward I's conquest of Wales in 1282-3. Despite living under English authority, Dafydd's poetry presents ways in which Welsh culture continued to distinguish itself and prevail.

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