LLWYD
(
LLOYD
),
MORGAN
(
1619
-
1659
),
littérateur, poet, mystic
;
b. at
Cynfal
, in the parish of
Maentwrog
,
Merioneth
. During
1634-5
he was in school at
Wrexham
, and was for some time later at
Brampton Bryan
,
Llanfair Waterdine
,
Shropshire
, noted home of learning. He had an experience of ‘conversion’ under the ministry of
Walter
Cradoc
(q.v.)
, who was at the time a
curate
at
Wrexham
. He followed him to
South Wales
and became identified with the group that founded the first
Dissenting church
in
Wales
, at
Llanfaches, Mon.
He
served with the Parliamentary forces
during the
first and second Civil Wars
, and was deeply influenced by the tenets of the
fifth monarchy men
. In
1647
he settled at
Wrexham
, with his home at
Bryn-y-ffynnon
, and
ministered to the ‘gathered church’
of that town. He was appointed an ‘
Approver
’ under the
1650
Act for the Propagation … of the Gospel in Wales
, and laboured extensively as an
itinerant preacher
. He
wrote a considerable amount of poetry
, including many of the
Psalms
and portions of the
Canticles
in metre, and books in
English
and
Welsh
, which include the famous classic,
Llyfr y Tri Aderyn
. His extant works were issued in two volumes by the
University of Wales
, the first in
1899
and the second in
1908
.
Later discoveries, amounting to another volume (in
N.L.W.
), await publication. He fore-ran the
Quakers
in
Wales
, interpreting their teachings even in his earliest writings. He also translated, from the
English
, some of the works of
Jacob
Boehme
, the
German
mystic
, disseminating his tenets among the
Welsh
. He
took a prominent part in the political affairs of the Commonwealth period
. His intense dislike of
Cromwell
's acceptance of the title ‘
Lord Protector
’ being known, his name was included or the protest known as
A Word for God
, but he definitely denies having any part in this document. In
1656
, he was approved by the ‘
Triers
’ as a
minister
settled in
Wrexham
, and the
Trustees for Maintenance
are requested to pay him £100 per annum. He d. in
June 1659
and his remains were buried at the
Rhos-ddu Dissenting burial-ground
,
Wrexham
, where a monument was unveiled in
1912
.
Bibliography:
-
E. Lewis Evans
,
Morgan Llwyd ymchwil i rai o'r prif
ddylanwadau a fu arno
, Liverpool, 1930
,
1930
, and the authorities cited therein.
Author:
Rev. Dr. Evan Lewis Evans, D.Th., (1898-1978), Pontardulais /
Swansea
