Coelbren -

Who was Iolo Morganwg?

Edward Williams was born on March 10th 1747 in ,the village of Pennon in the parish of Llancarfan, Glamorgan, son of Edward Williams, stonemason who carved the inscriptions on gravestones. The family were Welsh speaking and young Edward, although he had no formal education, developed an interest in the alphabet and language by watching his father at work. His mother may also have taught him at home. He was a keen learner, developing an enthusiasm for history, language and in particular for poetry in the Welsh bardic style, which led to him subsequently taking the bardic name of Iolo Morganwg (Iolo of Glamorgan) for himself.

It was a man named Edward Williams of Llancarfan who taught him the components and structure of bardic poetry.  Additionally well known bards of Glamorgan such as Lewis Hopkin, Siôn Bradford and Rhys Morgan, who he came to know personally were a great influence on him in his youth. Who were these three and how did they come to influence young Edward/Iolo?

Lewis Hopkin was the son of Lewis Hopkin of Llanbedr-ar-Fynydd (Peterston-super-Montem) and descendant of Hopcyn Thomas Phylip, Gelli'r-fid, a writer of cwndidau, short religious songs and carols.  Siôn Bradford of Betwws Tir Iarll, Glamorgan had a great interest in Welsh Bardic traditions and had begun collecting ancient manuscripts. It was recorded that he owned some of the volumes that had been the property of the Powels of Tir Iarll. He was one of the most prominent figures in the history of the literary renaissance in Upper Glamorgan in the first half of the 18th century. He also took an interest in the works of English writers and literary critics, and it is said that his collection of works in English was in the possession of his family in the 19th century. What subsequently became of this collection is unknown at the present time. Rhys Morgan devoted himself to the mastery of the grammars of the bards and  was an important figure in the history of the literary revival in Glamorgan during the first half of the 18th century. He and his fellows started to hold eisteddfodau similar to those arranged in North Wales.

Iolo took a great interest in the vocabulary of the Welsh language. Among his teachers in that respect were Thomas Richards of Coychurch, and John Walters of Llandough. And so it was that he began to develop into a respected Welsh scholar as well as learning his father's craft of a stonemason.