IEUAN ap RHYDDERCH ap IEUAN LLWYD
(
fl.
1430-1470
),
gentleman and poet
, of
Cardiganshire
,
son of
Rhydderch ap Ieuann Llwyd
of
Rhydderch Park
, in the parish of
Llanbadarn Odyn
, a wealthy
landowner
who held office under the
Crown
in
1387
. According to
Dwnn
, i, 28, the mother of ‘
Ieuan ap Rhydderch ab Ieuan Llwyd
y prydydd
’ was
Annes
, daughter of
Gwilym ap Philip ab Elidir
. But
Dwnn
, i, 45, 85, states that
Rhydderch
m. twice, (1) ‘
Marged
ferch
Gruffydd Gryg ap Ieuan Vychan ap Ieuan ap Rhys ap Llawdden
,’ and (2) ‘
Mawd
, daughter of
Sir
William
Clement
,
lord of Tregaron
.’ It is difficult to decide whether there were two men called
Rhydderch ap Ieuan Llwyd
, or whether the
poet
's father m. a third time.
Ieuan
is usually connected with two districts in
Cardiganshire
, but the earliest extant manuscripts link him with
Genau'r Glyn
rather than with the
vale of Aeron
. It appears likely that he was b. in the latter place, but spent the greater part of his life in
Genau'r Glyn
, where it is known that some of his descendants (including the
Pryses
of
Gogerddan
, qq.v.) lived. A contemporary of
Ieuan ap Rhydderch
was
Rhys
Lleision
(
fl.
1441-61
).
Ieuan
wrote a vaticinatory poem (
cywydd brud
) about the
Wars of the Roses
which reveals his knowledge of the prophecies of
Taliesin
, the two
Merlins
, and the ‘
Red Book of Hergest
.’ That he was well acquainted with the works of the older
Welsh
bards
is shewn by his poem ‘
Y Fost
’ written after the style of
Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd
's ‘
Gorhoffedd
.’ From this poem it can be deduced that he was educated at one of the universities — probably
Oxford
— and certain references to courses of study which he pursued indicate that he probably graduated
B.A.
,
M.A.
, and
B.C.L.
(
Llanst. MS. 155
— written about
1583
— asserts that he was ‘
a doctor of laws
’).
Ieuan
boastfully maintains that he was a good
athlete
, capable of numerous feats, that he was very wealthy, and that he had held numerous offices (probably under the
Crown
). He wrote an
awdl
to
Mary
— wherein
Latin
and
Welsh
are interwoven in perfect
cynghanedd
.
B.M. Add. MS. 14866 (45)
also attributes to him an
English
awdl to the
Virgin
Mary
, and he is also credited with the
Welsh
translation of the ‘
Te Deum
.’
Bibliography:
-
Lewis
,
Roberts
, and
Williams
,
Cywyddau Iolo Goch ac Eraill,
1350–1450
, 1925, 1937
(Cardiff,
1937
);
-
Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography
;
-
S. R. Meyrick
,
The History and Antiquities of the County of
Cardigan
, 1808; another edition, 1907
, 2nd ed., 255.
Author:
Dr David Jenkins, C.B.E., M.A., D.Litt., (1912-2002), Penrhyn-coch,
Aberystwyth
