DWNN, OWAIN (c. 1400 - c. 1460), poet

Of Modlyscwm (or ' Muddlescombe'), Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire. His grandfather was the Henry Don who was an adherent of Owain Glyn Dŵr (Lloyd, Owen Glendower, 41). The documents of the period 1436-46 make frequent mention of Owain Dwnn. He had a sister Mabli, the first wife of Gruffudd ap Nicholas of Dynevor, and both Owain and Gruffudd were imprisoned as followers of Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, justice of South Wales, when the latter's sun set in 1447. There is evidence (Panton MS. 40 (83)) that he served in Ireland under Richard, duke of York, father of Edward IV, and it was to him, perhaps, that Hywel Dafydd addressed a cywydd which is full of references to that service. Owain's wife was Catherine, daughter of John Wogan of Picton, Pembrokeshire, and their son, Harry Dwnn, and a nephew of the same name were killed at the battle of Hedgecote Field, July 1469.

Owain Dwnn's claim to be recognized as a poet is based chiefly on the contest of englynion between Gruffudd ap Nicholas, Owain Dwnn, and Gruffydd Benrhaw (the oldest text of which is to be found in NLW MS 3039B (59-78)), but it is difficult to judge their authenticity. There is another poem (englyn proest) also which is attributed to Owain Dwnn in NLW MS 3039B (510).

Author

• Garfield Hopkin Hughes, (1912 - 1969)

Sources

• The Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1941, 120-31

Additional Links

• Wikidata: Q19513574

Published date: 1959

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