Know all Men, by these Presents, that there is a Congress of Bards, and Musicians, to be held in the Town of Caerwys, in the County of Flint, on the twenty-sixth day of May, in the tenth Year of the Reign of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, before Ellis Price, Esquire, Doctor of the Civil Law, and one of her Majesty’s Council in the Marches of Wales, and before William Mostyn, Peres Mostyn, Owen John ap Hywel Vaughan, John William ap John, John Lewis Owen, Morris Griffith, Simon Thelwat, John Griffith Serjeant, Robert Pulesdon, Evan Lloyd of Iâl, and William Glyn, Esquires. And that we the said Commissioners, by virtue of the said Commission, being her Majesty’s Council, do give and grant to Simwnt Vychan, Bard, the degree of Pencerdd; and do order that Persons receive and hospitably entertain him in all Places fit for him to go and come to receive his Perquisites according to the Princely Statutes in that Case made and provided. Given under our Hands, in the Year 1568. A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR Of the preceding Work. “In the church-yard of Llanfihangel Lledrod, situated at some distance from Crosswood, on the other side of Ystwyth, are deposited, without stone or epitaph, the remains of the Rev. Evan Evans, the author of ‘Specimens of the Poetry of the Ancient Welsh Bards,’ &c., and equally distinguished for his genius as a poet, and his knowledge of the British language and antiquities. He was born at Cynhawdref in this parish, about the year 1730, and received the first part of his education at the Grammar School at Ystrad Meirig, then under the care of the celebrated Mr. Richards. Hence he removed to Jesus College, Oxford, towards the beginning of 1751. He afterwards took orders, and served successively several churches in the capacity of curate, but was never fortunate enough to hold a living of his own. His disappointment in his profession preyed considerably on his mind, and led him to seek an oblivion to his vexation in excesses which impaired his health and greatly limited his usefulness. He devoted considerable attention in early life to the study of his native language, in which he composed several poetical pieces. Some of these, as appears from a correspondence inserted in the ‘Cambrian Register,’ were submitted to the criticism, and received the corrections of Mr. Lewis Morris, who speaks highly of Mr. Evans’s talents and promise of future excellence. His chief literary productions are the ‘Specimens,’ above mentioned, which were published in 4to. in 1764. In these he has given a literal prose version of the writings of some of the earlier Welsh bards. For the copy-right he received thirty pounds. He wrote also several English poems, and a great number of short poems in Welsh, (some of which are inserted in the following pages,) and a translation into Welsh of two volumes of sermons, selected out of Tillotson and other eminent divines. A great part of his life was spent