Welsh literature -- 18th century; Welsh literature -- Translations into English; Wynne, Ellis, 1671-1734
The latter part of his life is as completely obscure as the earlier; he
lapsed again into the silence from which he had only just emerged with
such signal success, and confined his efforts as a Christian worker
within the narrow limits of his own native parts, exercising,
doubtlessly, an influence for good upon his immediate neighbourhood
through force of character and noble personality, as upon his
fellow-countrymen at large by means of his published works. His wife
died in 1720, and his son, Ellis, in 1732; two years later he himself
died and was buried under the communion table in Llanfair church, on the
17th day of July, 1734. {0e} There is no marble or “perennial brass” to
mark the last resting-place of the Bard, nor was there, until recent
years, any memorial of him in either of his parish churches, when the
late Rev. John Wynne set up a fine stained-glass window at Llanfair
church in memory of his illustrious ancestor.
Ellis Wynne appeared at a time when his country had sore need of him,
when the appointed teachers of the nation were steeped in apathy and
corruption, when ignorance and immorality overspread the land—the darkest
hour before the dawn. He was one of the early precursors of the
Methodist revival in Wales, a voice crying in the wilderness, calling
upon his countrymen to repent. He neither feared nor favored any man or
class, but delivered his message in unfaltering tone, and performed his
alloted task honestly and faithfully. How deeply our country is indebted
to him who did her such eminent service in the days of adversity and
gloom will never be known. And now, in the time of prosperity, Wales
still remembers her benefactor, and will always keep honored the name of
Ellis Wynne, the SLEEPING BARD.
II.—THE TEXT.
The _Bardd Cwsc_ was first published in London in 1703, a small 24mo.
volume of some 150 pages, with the following title-page
“GWELEDIGAETHEU Y BARDD CWSC. Y Rhann Gyntaf. Argraphwyd yn
Llundain gan E. Powell i’r Awdwr, 1703.” {0f}
A second edition was not called for until about 1742, when it was issued
at Shrewsbury; but in the thirty years following, as many as five
editions were published, and in the present century, at least twelve
editions (including two or three by the Rev. Canon Silvan Evans) have
appeared. The text followed in this volume is that of Mr. Isaac Foulkes’
edition, but recourse has also been had to the original edition for the
purpose of comparison. The only translation into English hitherto has
been that of George Borrow, published in London in 1860, and written in
that charming and racy style which characterises his other and better
known works. He has, however, fallen into many errors, which were only
natural, seeing that the Visions abound in colloquial words and phrases,
and in idiomatic forms of expression which it would be most difficult for
one foreign to our tongue to render correctly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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