Cylchgronau Cymru

Chwiliwch trwy dros 450 o deitlau a 1.2 miliwn o dudalennau

NOTABLE MEN OF WALES. M YNYDDO'G. Travellers on the Cambrian Railway, possessing an eye for the beautiful in nature, cannot fail to notice many and varied romantic spots in the neighbourhood of Llanbrynmair. Whether genius is inborn, and, therefore, independent in its existence, as well as being uninfluenced by any outward agency or circumstance, we will not here stop to enquire ; but it was in this vicinity, amidst scenes as picturesque and poetic as man need crave for, that, on the 10th day of January, 1833, was born a man destined to become, in some respects, one of the most popular Welshmen of his day, and a poet of no mean order. His father, Daniel Davies, was one of those who " make their mark" in whatever society or circle they are placed, and he did so in the position he occupied in this rural but far from unintelligent district of Llanbrynmair. For a quarter of a century he was a leader of the singing in the " Hen Grapel " (Old Chapel). He was a member of the church in the same place for fifty-one years, and a deacon for thirty years. That much in passing, just to show what manner of a father Mynyddog was blessed with. One of the most marked traits in the character of the son was the almost reverential manner in which he always referred to the father in after life ; nor, we may add, was the unvarying devotion which the son showed to his mother (who still survives him) less apparent, and pleasant to behold. While the son was yet young the family removed from their old home at Dol-lydan to a larger farm called the Fron—both in the same parish of Llanbrynmair, and the property of Sir AVatkin Williams Wynn, our veritable Prince in Wales, of whom we say, as Punch lately truly said, that he is " monarch of ail he surveys :" monarch not only of broad acres, but also of the hearts of his numerous tenant subjects. In essaying a biographical sketch like the present, and especially if we attempt any criticism of its subject, we must naturally keep in view the state of education in the Principality some thirty or forty years ago. In this, perhaps, Llanbrynmair was rather exceptionally favoured. If we mistake not, the