11: Gwaith Dafydd Bach ap Madog Wladaidd ‘Sypyn Cyfeiliog’ a Llywelyn ab y Moel

This volume contains the work of two poets who sang in fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Powys. Seven poems by Dafydd Bach ap Madog Wladaidd, or Sypyn Cyfeiliog as he is usually called, have survived including four love cywyddau , one moral englyn , one cywydd praising Harri Salbri and his wife Annes Cwrtes of Lleweni, and one awdl to Dafydd ap Cadwaladr of Bachelltref. Part of this awdl has been preserved in the Red Book of Hergest, and in it is found a splendid description of the welcome received in Dafydd’s court in Bachelltref – a court full of culture and gaiety, with plenty of food and drink of all kinds.

Llywelyn ab y Moel or Lywelyn ap Moel y Pantri was the son of a poet, and his son Owain ap Llywelyn, was also a poet whose work has been preserved in a number of cywyddau . It is believed that Llywelyn was raised in Llanwnnog in Arwystli, but a number of his poems connect him with the border region between the counties of Montgomeryshire and Shropshire. It appears that he joined Glyndŵr’s forces early in his career, and in one of his poems he mentions his experiences as an outlaw in the company of other outlaws in Coed y Graig Lwyd, a little to the south of Oswestry. He also composed poems to the birch tree, to his purse, to his tongue and to his beard (with references to his love Euron), three important dispute cywyddau between him and Rhys Goch Eryri, and englynion to Mary and to Jesus Christ.

This publication can be ordered online from: gwales.com