DAVIES
,
MARGARET
(
c.
1700-1785?
),
transcriber of many of the manuscripts preserved in our public collections
;
daughter of
Dafydd
Evan
of
Coetgae-du
,
Trawsfynydd, Mer.
She learnt the rules of bardism in her youth: in
Cymru (O.M.E.)
, xxv, 93-8, is printed a letter which
Michael
Pritchard
(q.v.)
had sent to her in
1728
; this letter proves that she was instructing him in the art and rules of
Welsh
poetry. It would appear that she was a fairly prominent personality in the literary circles of
Merioneth
and
Caernarvonshire
in the first half of the
18th cent.
, although only a few references to her are found in the books and manuscripts of her contemporaries. Examples of her own
englynion
and
cywyddau
in her autograph are extant, but they do not display much merit. One gathers from scraps of letters found here and there in her manuscripts that she spent much of her time visiting the homes of friends and relatives — such as
Y Goetre
in the parish of
Llanelltyd
,
Berth-lwyd
near
Dolgelley
,
Bronwion
in the parish of
Brithdir
, and
Plas Tan-y-fynwent
in
Dolgelley
. It is fairly certain that she was related to the family which lived in
Y Goetre
and at
Bronwion
; it may be that she dwelt at
Y Goetre
in her later years, from about
1766
onwards. It was to that family that her books went.
Manuscripts written by her are in the
National Library
at
Aberystwyth
, in the public libraries of
Cardiff
and
Swansea
, and in the
British Museum
. They contain collections of
awdlau
,
cywyddau
,
cerddi
, and poems in free metre of various kinds. It is evident that her chief delight lay in
collecting the works of the old bards
.
Bibliography:
-
Cymru
, xxv, 93-8;
-
Y Genedl Gymreig
,
6 Feb. 1933
;
-
Yr Herald Cymraeg (a'r Genedl)
,
17 April 1939
;
-
G. J. Williams
,
Llythyrau at Ddafydd Jones o Drefriw
.
National Library of Wales Journal, Appendix, vol. 3. no. 2.,
1943
,
1943
, 19, 39-43.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Griffith John Williams, M.A., (1892-1963),
Gwaelod-y-garth, Cardiff
