LEWIS
,
HUGH
(
1562
-
1634
),
cleric, author, poet
.
His forbears were bondsmen of the township of
Bodellog
near
Caernarvon
. His great-grandfather was known as
William of Bodellog
whose son
William ap William
m.
Margaret
Bennett
and had three sons —
Ieuan
,
Rhys
, and
Lewis
. This
Lewis
m.
Agnes
, daughter of
William
Foxwist
of
Prysgol
, a member of the lower gentry. Of this marriage four sons were born —
Hugh
,
Griffith
,
Richard
and
John
.
Hugh
Lewis
the eldest, was given educational advantages that enabled him to enter
All Souls' College
,
Oxford
,
10 Aug. 1582
, ‘
aet.
20’; he graduated from
Hart Hall
in
Jan. 1586/7
. It appears that during his
Oxford
days his
interest in Welsh letters
was intensified; he acquired a
sound knowledge of Welsh metrics
and became known as a
poet
of repute. For some years his career cannot be traced, but during that period he had been occupied in
translating
a treatise by
Otto
Werdmüller
of
Zurich
which had been rendered into
English
,
1550
, by
Miles
Coverdale
under the title
A Spyrytuall and moost Precious Pearle teaching all Men to Loue and Imbrace ye Crosse
. The
Welsh
version bore the title
Perl mewn Adfyd
and was first published in
1595
. A reprint of this book was edited by
W. J.
Gruffydd
,
1929
.
Hugh
Lewis
published the book from a desire to assist in the moral uplift of his country and to foster the use of his native language. In
1598
he obtained the rectory of
Llanddeiniolen
; ten years later he became
chancellor
of
Bangor cathedral
, and in
1623
succeeded the renowned
Edmund
Prys
(q.v.)
as
rector
of
Ffestiniog
and
Maentwrog
. In
1612
he
erected a mansion
upon the site of his old home at
Bodellog
and resided here until his death, which occurred
before 6 Nov. 1634
, the date on which his successor as
chancellor
was instituted. By his marriage with
Ellen vch Rhytherch
he had two sons,
Morgan ap Hugh Lewis
and
William ap Hugh Lewis
.
Ellen
d. in
April 1634
; she and her husband were buried in
Llanwnda
.
Bibliography:
-
J. E. Griffith
,
Pedigrees of Anglesey and Carnarvonshire
Families
, 1914
, 123;
-
Foster
,
Alumni Oxonienses
;
-
W. J. Gruffydd
, introduction to
Perl mewn Adfyd
[translated by H. Lewis
from the English version by Coverdale of "Ein Kleinot"]. 1595
edition with an introduction by W. J. Gruffydd, Cardiff,
1929
,
1929
;
-
Caernarvonshire Historical Society
Transactions
,
1944.
Author:
William Gilbert Williams, M.A., (1874-1966), Rhostryfan
