Hughes, John Ceiriog

(1832-1887)

   He was orn in Penbryn, Llanarmon-Dyffryn Ceiriog, Denbighshire, North Wales, from where he took his bardic name. The family could trace their lineage to Bleddyn ab Cynvyn, prince of Gwynedd and Powys in 1072. After several jobs, he settled in Manchester as a clerk. He remained there for sixteen years, leaving in 1865, after which he worked on the railway in Wales. His first prize for poetry was in 1853, and thereafter he published several volumes of verse, the first being Oriau'r Hwyr (Evening Hours, 1860). He investigated the history of old Welsh airs and of the harpists with whom the tunes were identified, and many of his lyrics were set to original music by various composers. In 1861 he won seven prizes at the Merthyr Eisteddfod for seven temperance songs. His remains were interred in the parish churchyard of Llanwnog, two miles from Caersws, Montgomeryshire. Some of his songs and poems: "All Through the Night (Ar Hyd Y Nos)," "David of the White Rock (Dafydd y Garreg Wen)," "Epilogue to Alun Mabon," "The Bells of Aberdyfi (Clychau Aberdyfi)," "The Court of Neptune," "The Mountain Stream."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. Men of Harlech, the Song (http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/brynterfel.welshalbum/album/texts/tr_04.html). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Eternal Sea: An Antholog y of Sea Poetry. W.M. Williamson, ed. CowardMcCann, 1946. The Oxford Book of Welsh Verse in English. Gwyn Jones, ed. Oxford University Press, 1977. Wales Online, John Ceiriog Hughes (http://www.walesonline.com/info/literature/jchughes.shtml).