Dr John Davies of Mallwyd
Welsh Renaissance Scholar

Edited by Ceri Davies

‘ . . . likely to remain the standard study in English for many years hence.’ Cambria

‘ . . . an imposing edifice . . . Professor Ceri Davies and his collaborators are to be congratulated.’ Historical Journal of the Presbyterian Church of Wales

‘John Davies of Mallwyd was, without doubt, one of our very greatest scholars and men-of-letters. He was deserving of a worthy biography more than almost any other Welshman, and in this volume he has found one. Professor Ceri Davies and his collaborators have combined to produce an admirably rounded and readable study of a great man, superb scholar and a modest, lovable human being.’ Sir Glanmor Williams, Journal of the Meirioneth Historical and Record Society

Dr John Davies (c. 1567–1644) of Mallwyd was the greatest scholar of the later Renaissance period in Wales. He was an industrious collector and copyist of manuscripts, and his painstaking work in studying their contents and in preserving bardic vocabulary established the basics for modern research into the Welsh language. It was not without good reason that one of the many poets who sang his praises described John Davies as ‘doctor anhepgor i’n hiaith’ (‘indispensable doctor for our language’).

This book, the publication of which in 2004 coincides with the 400th anniversary of John Davies’s installation as rector of Mallwyd, examines his varied and remarkably rich contribution – as biblical translator and pastor, as grammarian and lexicographer, and as one who strove to promote the standing and dignity of the language and literary heritage of his native Wales within the wider context of Renaissance humanism.

Ceri Davies is Professor of Classics at the University of Wales Swansea. His publications include, from the University of Wales Press, Rhagymadroddion a Chyflwyniadau Lladin, 1551–1632 (1980), Latin Writers of the Renaissance (Writers of Wales Series, 1981) and Welsh Literature and the Classical Tradition (1995, paperback reprint 1998), and from Gwasg Pantycelyn, Caernarfon, John Davies o Fallwyd (Cyfres Llên y Llenor, 2001).

‘Cyfrol amlgyfrannog yw Dr John Davies of Mallwyd: Welsh Renaissance Scholar a cheir ynddi ddeg o benodau yn ymdrin â gwahanol agweddau ar fywyd a gwaith yr ysgolor hwn o Fallwyd, prif gynrychiolydd dyneiddiaeth yng Nghymru’r ail ganrif ar bymtheg …Y mae ymdriniaeth hyddysg Erich Poppe a’r agwedd olaf honyn un o bethau gorau’r gyfrol…Ceir yn y bennod hon ymdriniaeth fanwl a’r llawysgrifau ynghyd ag atodiad defnyddiol yn rhestru’r dyfyniadau o waith Beirdd y Tywysogion yn y Gramadeg. Ceir ganddynt hefyd ymdriniaeth fer ond gwreiddiol â swyddogaeth y dyfyniadau o waith y Gogynfeirdd yn y Geiriadur.’ Barn

Contents and contributors:

Introduction: John Davies and Renaissance Humanism Ceri Davies
Dr John Davies of Mallwyd: A Biographical Survey †Rhiannon Francis Roberts
The Praises of Poets: John Davies and the Bards Nesta Lloyd
John Davies and his Manuscripts Daniel Huws
John Davies and the Study of Grammar: Antiquæ Linguæ Britannicæ Rudimenta (1621) Erich Poppe
The Dictionarium Duplex (1632) Caryl Davies
John Davies and the Poets of the Princes: cognoscere, intellegere, scire. Nerys Ann Jones & Morfydd E. Owen
John Davies and Welsh Translations of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer Gwilym H. Jones
Llyfr y Resolusion and other Pastoral Literature R. Geraint Gruffydd
‘Architectus, Pensaer, Dychymmygwr Gwaith’: Dr John Davies as an Architect Richard F. Suggett.