SION BRWYNOG (died 1567?), poet

Son of William ap Llywelyn ap Iorwerth. He lived at Brwynog, in the parish of Llanfflewyn, Anglesey, from which farm he took his surname. He belonged to the lesser squirearchy and, as a strolling poet, had wandered over many parts of the country, writing poems for the aristocracy of Anglesey, Caernarvonshire, Denbighshire, Flintshire, and Merioneth. There was a brief exchange of flyting poetry between him and Gruffudd Hiraethog on the subject of the merits of Anglesey and Tegeingl. He addressed poems to Henry VIII and Mary, and mentions Edward VI, but does not refer to Elizabeth at all. He was a staunch papist who had no love or use for the new religion. His name is not included in the list of bards who attended the 1523 eisteddfod at Caerwys - perhaps he was too young.. He married Jane, daughter of Owen ap Ifan ap Madog of Ucheldre, Llanfflewyn, and they had a son, William Brwynog. Siôn Brwynog died in 1562, according to an elegy by Gruffudd Hiraethog (Bodleian MS. 31440, f. 4, 176-80), and was buried in Llanddeusant churchyard.

Author

• Dr Enid Pierce Roberts

Sources

• W. J. Gruffydd, Llenyddiaeth Cymru o 1450 hyd 1600 (Lerpwl 1922), 75-6
• U.C.N.W. Gaianydd papers, 21, 'Cywyddau Siôn Brwynog'
• Pedigrees of Anglesey and Carnarvonshire Families (1914), 79
• NLW Archives: Peniarth MS 122: Poetry, &c. (123)

Published date: 1959

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