SIMON
,
BEN
(
c.
1703
-
1793
),
of
Abergwili, Carms.
There is a record of the burial of ‘
Benjamin
Simon
, a Pauper,’ at
Abergwili
,
1 March 1793
, and
Iolo Morganwg
has left for us in his ‘
Agricultural Observations
,’
1795
(
N.L.W. MS. 13115
, i.e.
Llanover MS. C 28
) a picture of the old man in his poverty.
Iolo
says that he was 90 years of age at the time of his death and that he had been a
bookbinder
by trade. Another tradition, however, has it that he was a
bootmaker
. His elegy on
Griffith
Jones
of
Llanddowror
shows how greatly he, like many other contemporaries, was indebted to
Jones
and his schools.
Simon
, like so many other
antiquaries
and
literary men
of that generation, was a
dissenter
, and he is recorded as being a member of the chapel at
Panteg, Carms.
, in
March 1743
(the
Panteg Church Book, N.L.W. MS. 12362
).
Ben
Simon
was one of the group of
copyists
greatly influenced by
Iaco ab Dewi
(q.v.)
. His most celebrated manuscript, ‘
Tlysau'r Beirdd
’ (
N.L.W. MS. 5474
) was written
between 1747 and 1751
, and his well-known collection of
Dafydd ap Gwilym's
works (
N.L.W. MS. 5475
) in
1754
. Some of his other manuscripts are in the
Cardiff City Library
and at
Oxford
. His books and manuscripts were bought by
Thomas
Evans
(
Tomos Glyn Cothi
, q.v.)
in
1790
, and
Iolo Morganwg
made use of some of them at a later date.
Ben
Simon
was also closely connected with
Siôn Rhydderch
(q.v.)
. His best-known ballad is
Marwnad ar Farwolaeth …, 17 o Ddynion yng Waith Glo'r Wern Fraith, ger-llaw Castell Nedd yn Sir Forgannwg
,
1758
. Another of his elegies was printed as a supplement to
Llawlyfr Ysgrythyrawl
,
1756
.
Bibliography:
-
The National Library of Wales Journal
, v, 302;
-
Carmarthenshire Miscellany
, i,
1892
, 100;
-
the elegy on Griffith Jones is in Thomas Levi's collection,
Casgliad o hen farwnadau Cymreig, yn dal
cysylltiad a chyfundeb y Methodistiaid a wnaed ar gais y
Gymanfa Gyffredinol
, Wrexham, 1873
,
1873
.
Author:
Garfield Hopkin Hughes, M.A., (1912-69), Aberystwyth
