Welsh Journals

firstly, Marged, daughter of Gruffudd Gryg ab Ieuan Fychan, and, secondly, Mawd, daughter of Syr William Clement, lord of Tregaron (Dwnn, I, 15, 18). The children of this second marriage were Siankyn, Tomas, David, Ieuan, Phylip, Gwenllian, and Marged. One of the sons of Rhydderch was the eminent poet and scholar Ieuan4, but whether he was of the second marriage is questionable, for, as Mr. Thomas Roberts has already pointed out in his able treatise on the poet, Dwnn elsewhere (I, 28) states categorically that the mother of Ieuan ap Rhydderch ab Ieuan Llwyd y prydydd (the poet) was Annes daughter of Gwilym ap Phylip ab Elidir, thus inferring that Rhydderch was thrice married, or that the poet's father was another bearing the same name. Ieuan ap Rhydderch is generally associated with two localities in the county of Cardigan. The earlier manuscripts refer to him as a gentleman of Geneu'r Glyn, while others of a slightly later date say he was of Glyn Aeron. Mr. Roberts suggests that as some of Ieuan's descendants settled in Geneu'r Glyn, the Pryses of Gogerddan forming one branch, it may be that he was born in Glyn Aeron and spent his later years in the former place. Principal J. H. Davies, however, was of the opinion that in all probability it was Rhydderch's grandson, Dafydd Llwyd ap Dafydd ap Rhydderch, who was really the progenitor of the Gogerddan branch of the family. In passing, it is of interest to note the association between the Clement family and the manor of Geneu'r Glyn, and the possibility that the poet Ieuan ap Rhydderch was the son of Mawd, daughter of Sir William Clement. Whether Ieuan ap Rhydderch lived at Gogerddan or not, one may be permitted perhaps, to claim a certain blood relationship between that household and this most versatile of squires who flourished about 1430-70. He was the epitome of Welsh culture during the Middle Ages, and had received detailed instruction in Welsh versification and in Welsh literature. His father, according to Jaspar Griffith, gave his name to 'The White Book of Rhydderch ('Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch'), which contains one of the earliest known versions of the Mabinogion and Welsh romances. This and other like manuscripts Ieuan must have often perused. In one of his poems, modelled on the famous 'Gorhoffedd' (Delight) of Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd, he boasts of his own extensive attainments which include, among others, a thorough knowledge of the Bible, the old chronicles, and the works of the earliest Welsh poets; grammar and civil law, French and the classics, astrology, geometry, harp playing (music), chess, putting the shot, jump- ing, swimming, riding, together with the onerous duties that fell to his lot with the numerous public offices he held from time to time. From certain references in this poem it may be fairly safely assumed that he was educated at one of the older universities (probably Oxford). Some manuscripts credit him with the author- ship of an interesting English poem to the Virgin Mary, which, written in strict Welsh metre, is of particular interest to students of English phonetics. As was to be expected from a family of uchelwyr, the Pryses, always proud of their relationship with Ieuan ap Rhydderch, were generous patrons of the Welsh poets, who in turn sang their praises in the traditional style. While it is true that these poems were written to an established form, and many of the personal