NICOLAS
,
DAFYDD
(
1705?
-
1774
),
poet
.
T. C.
Evans
(
Cadrawd
, q.v.)
thought that he was the man of the same name who was b. in
Llangynwyd, Glam.
, in
1705
. According to
Cadrawd
, the older people spoke of him as one who had
kept school
in the parish.
Iolo Morganwg
listed him with the literary men who were self-educated. He lived afterwards in
Ystradyfodwg
and perhaps in
Glyncorrwg
and
Cwm-gwrach
. It is quite possible that he was an
itinerant schoolmaster
at that time. Towards the middle of the century (or, perhaps, before that) he came to the notice of the
Williams
family of
Aberpergwm
(qq.v.
), and that mansion was his home thenceforward until he d. It was maintained during the last century that he was kept there as ‘
family bard
’ — the last in
Wales
, so it was said; but
William
Davies
of
Cringell
(
1756
-
1823
) (q.v.)
said in
1795-6
that he was
private tutor
to the family. He earned a high reputation as a
classical scholar
and he translated some of
Homer
's
Iliad
into
Welsh
— at least, that was the tradition in the
Neath valley
.
Iolo Morganwg
also claimed that
Nicolas
knew
Latin
,
Greek
, and
French
, and that he was the greatest
poet
among those whom
Iolo
knew. Although he paid little attention to poetry in the strict metres it is evident that he was a rather important figure in the literary revival in
Glamorgan
. It is his poems in free metre which give him his place as a
bard
. Two lyrics are attributed to him in
Ancient National Airs of Gwent and Morgannwg
,
1844
, by
Maria Jane
Williams
(q.v.)
, songs to be sung to old and later airs. He possessed a special gift for this kind of work, and it would not be inappropriate to describe him as the
Ceiriog
of the
18th cent.
Here is a
lyric poet
, one who could hear the music of words, a
poet
who delighted in the liveliness of his measures. He was undoubtedly the best
bard
in
Glamorgan
in the
18th cent
, before the time of
Iolo Morganwg
. It is generally said that he sent to
Edward
Evan
(
1716
-
1798
) (q.v.)
a letter in which the technique of composing in the free metres was discussed, but it is fairly certain that it was
Iolo
who wrote that letter. He was buried at
Aberpergwm
in
1774
.
Bibliography:
-
T. C. Edwards
(Cadrawd),
History of Llangynwyd Parish, with
Illustrations
, Llanelli, 1887
,
1887
, 186-8;
-
D. Rhys Phillips
,
The Hist. of the Vale of Neath
,
Swansea, 1925
,
1925
, 546-53;
-
G. J. Williams
,
Traddodiad Llenyddol Morgannwg
,
1948
,
1948
, 241-3, 290-300.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Griffith John Williams, M.A., (1892-1963),
Gwaelod-y-garth, Cardiff
