06: Gwaith Siôn Ceri

This volume contains an edition of the work of Siôn Ceri, the son of Bedo ap Deio Fychan, a very productive poet who established himself in Ceri, as his name suggests.

Sixty of his poems have survived, being awdlau , englynion and cywyddau . A few of his love poems have survived, but his most important works are the 50-odd poems written to patrons between the mid-twenties and the mid-forties of the sixteenth century. From these we can assume that he visited 37 homes and addressed 42 patrons, many of whom lived in Ceri or the surrounding area: in Llanbryn-mair, Carno, Mochdre, Llanllwchaearn, Llandysul, Welshpool, and over the border in Churchstoke and Oswestry. He also visited patrons in other parts of Wales, but his poems to Thomas Pennant, the abbot of Basingwerk, Robert ap Rhys of Plas Iolyn and his elegy to Sir Rhys ap Thomas all belong to the earlier part of his career, and it is probably through his bardic teacher Tudur Aled that he gained access to these homes.

His work proves how much the traditional poetry flourished in Mid Wales, and no less important is what this poetry suggests to us about the social climate of the times – the instability and conflict, and the necessity of combat – in this part of Wales just before the Acts of Union.

This publication can be ordered online from: gwales.com