Dictionary of Welsh Biography

BEUNO (d. 642?), patron saint oldest manuscript of the Venedotian Code, under the name of 'clas Beuno,' as warranting (with Bangor) the legal privileges of the cantref of Arfon. According to tradition, the site was given by Gwyddeint, a cousin of Cadwallon, king of Gwynedd, and, therefore, about 630. A long list of other donors who enriched the community in later years appears in the records of the church; they made it one of the
CNEPPYN GWERTHRYNION (fl. 13th century), poet and grammarian in all probability, although none of his compositions seem to have survived. The earliest reference to him is by Gwilym Ddu o Arfon (a poet who sang in 1322) in an elegy to the poet Trahaearn (The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales, 277b 12/13). Cneppyn is here named among a number of the leading poets of the 13th century, and it is maintained that he was of their tradition. From this reference we may
DEWI ARFON - see JONES, DAVID HUGH
EINION ap GWALCHMAI (fl. 1203-1223), poet not sleep, let us chant the canonical prayers.' His religious poems, like his elegy to Nest, are melodious and graphic, and it is evident that in his day he was a popular poet. Gwilym Ddu o Arfon states (The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales, 277b) that his poems 'caught on' 'like a surging fountain.' Another indication of his popularity is to be found in the fact that he became a character in folk-lore
ELLIS, ROBERT (Cynddelw; 1812 - 1875), Baptist minister, preacher, poet, antiquary, and commentator reprint of Barddoniaeth Dafydd ap Gwilym. He also compiled Blodau Arfon (the work of Dewi Wyn) and edited Geiriadur y Bardd. He delighted in lexicography and produced Geiriadur Cymreig Cymraeg, 1868. His poetry - Barddoniaeth Cynddelw - was published under the editorship of Ioan Arfon by H. Humphreys, Caernarvon, in 1877. He was interested in every kind of antiquarian lore, published Manion Hynafiaethol
EVANS, JAMES THOMAS (1878 - 1950), principal of the Baptist College, Bangor the Book of Amos (1924), and was one of the assistant-editors of Y Geiriadur Beiblaidd (1926). He also published a useful handbook on Old Testament religion (Llawlyfr ar grefydd yr Hen Destament, 1928). He was president of the Arfon Baptist association, and he rendered valuable service to his denomination over many years in the churches of north Wales. He married Annie Humphreys, 18 September 1907
FYNES-CLINTON, OSBERT HENRY (1869 - 1941), Professor of French and Romance Philology at the University College of North Wales, Bangor position which he held until 1937 when he retired and was appointed Professor Emeritus. A brilliant linguist, he devoted his leisure hours to a meticulous study of the Arfon dialect of Welsh, and in 1913 published The Welsh Vocabulary of the Bangor District, which secured for him a place of honour in the history of Welsh linguistics, being the only comprehensive phonetic study of the vocabulary of a
GORFYNIAWC O ARFON - see WILLIAMS, JOHN
GREENLY, EDWARD (1861 - 1951), geologist geological survey of Anglesey. He married Annie Barnard in 1891 (she died 1927) and they worked together on the task until its completion in 1910. The geology of Anglesey, two vols., was published in 1919 and the 1 inch map in 1920. The work was later extended to Arfon. He published (with Howel Williams) Methods of geological surveying (1930) and his autobiography, A hand through time, appeared in 1938. He
GRIFFITH, JOHN OWEN (Ioan Arfon; 1828 - 1881), poet and critic verse-writer, received the same welcome. Ioan Arfon was accounted a considerable geologist in his day and published in 1864 a book on the subject, Traethawd Ymarferol ar Lechfeini Sir Gaernarvon. He and his friends, Alfardd (John James Hughes) and Gwilym Allt-wen, were members of the first committee set up by the North Wales Quarrymen's Union and attended its inaugural meeting, 21 March 1874. Alfardd
GRIFFITH, ROBERT ARTHUR (Elphin; 1860 - 1936), author and lawyer Born at Caernarvon, 1860, son of John Owen Griffith (Ioan Arfon) and Ann (formerly Roberts). He was educated at the Liverpool institute and University College, Aberystwyth. For many years he practised as a solicitor at Bangor. He became a barrister of the Middle Temple in 1903, joining the North Wales and Chester circuit. In 1915 he became stipendiary magistrate for Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare, a
GRIFFITH, ROBERT DAVID (1877 - 1958), musician and historian of Welsh congregational singing Born 19 May 1877, in Cwm-y-glo, Caernarfonshire, son of Richard Griffith, a slate quarryman, and Jane (née Williams) his wife. His mother was a cousin of David Roberts ('Alawydd ' and of John Williams ('Gorfyniawc o Arfon'). After moving to Mynydd Llandygái in 1885, the family returned to Bethesda in 1890, where he, too, obtained employment in Penrhyn quarry. Later he became an office clerk, and

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