MERRICK
,
RICE
or
RHYS MEURUG
(
DWB
, 628-9).
He d.
1 March 1586/7
. See also
T.J.
Hopkin
's article on him in
Morgannwg
, VIII, 5-13.
Corrections and additions:
MERRICK
,
RICE
(
RHYS MEURUG
)
(d.
1586-7
), a
landed gentleman, genealogist, and historian
who lived at
Cottrell
in the parish of
S. Nicholas
in the
Vale of Glamorgan
. According to his contemporary,
Dafydd Benwyn
(q.v.)
, he was the son of
Meurug ap Hywel ap Phylip ap Dafydd ap Phylip Hir
, of the line of
Caradog Freichfras
. He was appointed by the
earl of Pembroke
as
Clerk of the Peace
in
Glamorgan
. He d. in
1586-7
and was buried in
Cowbridge
church. Two elegies to him were sung, the one by
Dafydd Benwyn
(q.v.)
(
Cardiff MS. 2, 277, 344-6
) and the other by
Sils ap Siôn
(q.v.)
(‘
Llyfr Hir Llanharan
,’ 319). His main interest was in the history of
Glamorgan
and he was assiduous in his
search for documents
of every kind,
Latin
and
Welsh
. In
J. M.
Traherne
,
Stradling Correspondence
,
1840
, 167-8, is a letter which he sent to
Sir
Edward
Stradling
of
S. Donat's
, which shows that these two
historians
collaborated. He wrote a book on the history of
Glamorgan
, and
Iolo Morganwg
says that he saw it in the library at
Hafod, Cards.
It can, therefore, be assumed that this was one of the volumes lost when that library went on fire in
1807
. A copy made
c.
1660-80
is in the library of the
Queen's College
,
Oxford
; this copy was published by
Sir
Thomas
Phillipps
at his private press,
Middle Hill
, in
1825
(2nd ed. by
J. A.
Corbett
,
1887
). A second copy, made
c. 1674-5
, is in the
Cardiff Public Library
. The book is entitled
A Booke of Glamorganshire Antiquities
, and it is said to have been completed in
1578
. As will be seen, the work is in
English
, and it is divided into three parts. In the first part, the characteristics of the region are described; in the second is shown how the country was divided among the
Norman knights
and what lands were assigned to the original
Welsh
families; in the third the
author
describes
Glamorgan
as it was in his time. Nevertheless, we do not possess the
author
's final manuscript, because he refers to portions of the work not found now in the two extant manuscripts, and only a portion of the third part is available. It is more than likely that a substantial portion of that part has been preserved in one of
Edward
Lhuyd
's manuscripts and is published in
Parochialia
III (
1911
), 116-47. It can be
surmised that
Merrick
wrote this part
c.
1584-5
; it contains particulars of the rivers and streams, of the old houses of the landed families, and of the parishes and the lands. Although the
author
made use of documents which have since been lost, when he wrote the first two sections, it is his description of the region as it was in his own time which makes his work of interest to us today. He is, undoubtedly, the most important of the older
historians
of
Glamorgan
. He makes occasional references to other works which he compiled, such as a history of
Wales
and a history of the
bishopric of Llandaff
, but no copies of them are extant. He was also a famous
genealogist
and
formed a large collection of pedigrees
. References to him and extracts from his collection are to be found in some genealogical manuscripts.
Bibliography:
-
A Booke of Glamorganshires Antiquities
,
London, 1887
,
1887
, iii-vii;
-
G. J. Williams
,
Traddodiad Llenyddol Morgannwg
,
1948
,
1948
, 203-14;
-
Llenyddiaeth Cymru o 1450 hyd 1600
,
1922
, i, 48;
-
Archaeologia Cambrensis
,
1890
, 321-2.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Griffith John Williams, M.A., (1892-1963),
Gwaelod-y-garth, Cardiff
