RICHARD ap JOHN of Scorlegan, Llangynhafal, Denbighshire (fl. 1578-1611); gentleman, poet, patron of bards, and copyist

Name: Richard ap John
Spouse: Sian ferch James
Spouse: Alis wraig Richard ap John
Child: Blaens ferch Richard ap John
Child: Margred ferch Richard ap John
Child: Dorithi ferch Richard ap John
Child: Simwnt ap Richard ap John
Child: John Llwyd ap Richard ap John
Child: Thomas ap Richard ap John
Child: John Wyn ap Richard ap John
Child: Edwart ap Richard ap John
Child: Robert Wyn ap Richard ap John
Parent: Margred ferch Gruffudd ab Edwart
Parent: John Wyn ap Robert ap Gruffudd
Gender: Male
Occupation: gentleman, poet, patron of bards, and copyist
Home: Scorlegan
Area of activity: Literature and Writing; Philanthropy; Poetry; Royalty and Society; Scholarship and Languages
Author: Evan David Jones

He traced his pedigree through Edwin ap Grono to Hywel Dda and Rhodri Mawr. His father, John Wyn ap Robert ap Griffith, was a waiter in the queen's ewry, but he died of the plague before the children, Richard, John Wyn, and Catherine, had reached their majority. Lewis ab Edward and Gruffudd Hiraethog wrote elegies on his death. The children and their mother, Margaret, daughter of Griffith ab Edward of Plas y Bold, appear to have returned to Scorlegan. The grandfather, Robert ap Griffith, died in 1572 (elegy by Simwnt Vychan) and was succeeded at Scorlegan by Richard ap John. He married Alice, daughter of Richard Thelwall of Plas-y-ward, who died at the Caerwys eisteddfod of 1568. She died 25 November 1584, leaving nine children, Robert Wyn, Edward, John Wyn, Thomas, John Lloyd, Simon, Dorothy, Margaret, and Blanche (elegies by Simwnt Vychan and Edward ap Raff). According to Robert Vaughan, Richard ap John married, secondly, ' Jane verch James,' by whom he had children. A metrical translation into Welsh in 1586 of The Boke of John Maundeville is attributed to Richard ap John. It survives in copies in NLW MS 1553A and Peniarth MS 218 . A carol by him is preserved in B.M. Add. MS. 9817. There was a bardic tradition in the family, and his uncle, Edward Wyn, an alderman of Ruthin (died 1578), was a good poet according to the elegy which Edward ap Raff composed on his death. Richard ap John's transcripts of Welsh prose and poetry survive in the following manuscripts: Peniarth MS 159 -Peniarth MS 160 (bardic grammars), Llanstephan MS 172 ('Brut y Tywysogion' with interpolations from English sources), Llanstephan MS 36 , and Cardiff 63 (collections of poems). These manuscripts were written between 1578 and 1611. Notes by him are to be found in other manuscripts. He was ill in 1590 and Edward ap Raff composed englynion on the occasion, and a cywydd in 1605 to solicit a pair of spectacles on his behalf from Hugh Edwards of prince Henry's ewry.

Author

Evan David Jones, (1903 - 1987)

Sources

Reports on Manuscripts in the Welsh Language (Historical Manuscripts Commission 1898â€“1910)
Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, v, 287-327
The National Library of Wales Journal, v, 201
NLW Archives: Peniarth MS 268: Gwelygorddau Gwynedd
NLW Archives: Peniarth MS 261: Brut y Brenhinoedd

Additional Links

Wikidata: Q20734262

Published date: 1959

Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/