Folk-Lore of West and Mid-WalesDavies, Jonathan Ceredig
History
Folk-Lore of West and Mid-Wales
Davies, Jonathan Ceredig
Folklore -- Wales; Wales -- Social life and customs
The words have been translated by someone something as follows:--
"If you can be so cruel,
Let the kind wanton jade,
Who oftenest met me in this shade,
On summer's morn, by love inclined,
Let her strike first, and I'm resigned."
Dafydd's words had the desired effect. The young women began to
question each other's purity, which led to a regular quarrel between
them, and, during the scuffle, the poet escaped safe and sound.
After this the Poet fell in love with the daughter of one Madog Lawgam,
whose name was Morfudd, and in her honour he wrote many songs, and
it seems that he ever remained true to this lady. They were secretly
married in the woodland; but Morfudd's parents disliked the Poet so
much for some reason or other, that the beautiful young lady was taken
away from him and compelled to marry an old man known as Bwa Bach, or
Little Hunchback. Dafydd was tempted to elope with Morfudd, but he was
found, fined and put in prison; but through the kindness of the men of
Glamorgan, who highly esteemed the Poet, he was released. After this,
it seems that Dafydd was love-sick as long as he lived, and at last
died of love, and he left the following directions for his funeral:--
"My spotless shroud shall be of summer flowers,
My coffin from out the woodland bowers:
The flowers of wood and wild shall be my pall,
My bier, light forest branches green and tall;
And thou shalt see the white gulls of the main
In thousands gather then to bear my train!"
One of Dafydd's chief patrons was his kinsman, the famous and noble
Ivor Hael, Lord of Macsaleg, from whose stock the present Viscount
Tredegar is a direct descendant, and, in judging the character of the
Poet we must take into consideration what was the moral condition of
the country in the fourteenth century.
But to come to more modern times, tradition has it that a young man
named Morgan Jones of Dolau Gwyrddon, in the Vale of Teivi, fell in
love with the Squire of Dyffryn Llynod's daughter. The young man and
the young woman were passionately in love with each other; but the
Squire, who was a staunch Royalist, refused to give his consent to his
daughter's marriage with Morgan Jones, as the young man's grandfather
had fought for Cromwell. The courtship between the lovers was kept on
for years in secret, and the Squire banished his daughter to France
more than once. At last the young lady fell a victim to the small
pox, and died. Just before her death, her lover came to see her,
and caught the fever from her, and he also died. His last wish was
that he should be buried in the same grave as the one he had loved
so dearly, but this was denied him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account