Fonds GB 0210 MSMYSEVIN - Mysevin manuscripts

William Owen-Pughe was born in Llanfihangel-y-Pennant, Merioneth and brought up in a farmhouse called Egryn in Ardudwy. He moved to London in 1776, where he committed himself to the London Welsh community, becoming a member of both the Gwyneddigion Society and the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion. He was made a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and corresponded with many scholarly figures of his day. Like his contemporary 'Iolo Morganwg', who greatly influenced him, Pughe held somewhat idiosyncratic ideas concerning the Welsh language and its origins. His own literary output, however, was prolific and included lexicographical works such as A Grammar of the Welsh Language and A Welsh and English Dictionary (both 1803) and translations such as Coll Gwynfa (1819), a Welsh rendering of Milton's 'Paradise Lost'. He was also principal editor of The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales (1801-1807) and the short-lived periodical Y Greal (1805-1807) and was a regular contributor to the newspapers and magazine publications of his day. Pughe conducted a close relationship with the writer and prophet Joanna Southcott from around 1803 until her death in 1814. Pughe's son Aneurin Owen was a historical scholar who received much of his early education from his father. He edited Ancient Laws and Institutes of Wales; comprising the Laws ... by Howel the Good ... (London, 1841) and was also a major, though unacknowledged, contributor to the prodigious chronicle Brut y Tywysogion (1860).

Edward Williams (Iolo Morganwg, 1747-1826), stonemason, poet and literary forger, was born 10 March 1747 in Llancarfan, Glamorgan, to Edward Williams (1715-1795), stonemason, and Ann Matthews (1713-1770), and lived for most of his life in Flemingston (or Flimston), Glamorgan, apart from periods spent in London, Kent and elsewhere. His only schooling came from his mother and from the numerous poets who taught him their craft. He worked as a monumental mason and builder. He also tried his hand at various other trades but with little success; he was imprisoned for debt in Cardiff Gaol in 1786. In 1781 Iolo married Margaret Roberts (1749-1827). They had four children, of which two, Margaret (b. 1782) and Taliesin (1787-1847), survived into adulthood. Iolo Morganwg died at Flemingston on 18 December 1826. Iolo had various literary, antiquarian and political interests. He wrote poetry in both Welsh and English, his Poems Lyrical and Pastoral appearing in 1794. He became a Unitarian from about 1797 and wrote many hymns, published in Salmau yr Eglwys yn yr Anialwch (1812, 1827 and 1834). Following the French Revolution he had radical sympathies. However he has become notorious for his forgeries and fabrications. The edition of Dafydd ap Gwilym published in 1789 contained an appendix of additional poems which were in fact written by Iolo. The Myvyrian Archaiology (1801, 1807), of which he was an editor contained many of his fabrications. These forgeries went largely undiscovered until the early twentieth century. His interest in the ancient druids led to his unveiling of the Gorsedd of Bards of Great Britain, which first met on Primrose Hill, London, in 1792. He claimed it to be a miraculous survival from ancient times and it persists as an integral part of the ritual and pageantry of the National Eisteddfod. However it too was invented by Iolo. Following Iolo's death his son Taliesin, a schoolmaster in Merthyr Tydfil, edited his manuscripts and upheld his legacy, apparently completely oblivious to the forgeries.