Dictionary of Welsh Biography

ROBIN CLIDRO (fl. 1580), itinerant minstrel which seems never to have been used for serious poetry. It is a variation of the metre known as cyhydedd hir, with a touch of cynghanedd between the third and fourth lines. An elegy upon Robin, full of faulty cynghanedd in the manner of the bard himself, was sung by Siôn Tudur, and it is stated in the title that he was murdered by highwaymen in South Wales. But this may, like many another, be a mock
RODERICK, JOHN (1673 - 1735), grammarian, printer and publisher of almanacks and books, poet, and eisteddfodwr . 14874 (which he had owned) is written ' Llyfr Cywyddau Siôn Rhydderch, 1709; b. April 11, 1675 '. He printed and published in Shrewsbury his Grammadeg Cymraeg, 1728; a second edition was published at Carmarthen in 1824. With the collaboration of John Williams, Witley, Salop, he produced and published an English and Welch Dictionary, of which three editions appeared. He had before this begun to prepare
ROGERS, JOHN (d. 1738), bookseller and printer later. Nicholas Thomas was apprenticed either to John Rogers or to John Roderick (Siôn Rhydderch). One John Rogers, a bookseller, was buried 9 May 1738. Fuller details are given in the works listed below.
ROLANT, DAFYDD - see ROWLAND, DAVID
ROWLAND, DAVID (1795 - 1862), eccentric Calvinistic Methodist minister Born at Bala in 1795 (christened 11 June), son of David Rowland, a trumpeter, and his wife Jane Rowlands of Cwmtylo, Llanycil, Meironnydd. His mother died when David was but a child, and he was brought up at Cwmtylo by his grandmother. He had only fitful schooling, and spent most of his time on the farm. He was brought to religion by Dafydd Cadwaladr, who became a firm friend of his. After
ROWLAND(S), WILLIAM (1887 - 1979), schoolmaster and author the Caernarfonshire Historical Society when it was founded in 1938. Likewise, he was among the founders in 1943 of Clwb Dafydd y Garreg Wen, a Welsh cultural, non-denominational and non-political club in Porthmadog; he served as its permanent president from the beginning until his death. He was chairman of the executive committee of the National Eisteddfod Pwllheli, 1955. He was also one of the
ROWLANDS, Sir HUGH (1828 - 1909), general, and the first Welshman to be awarded the Victoria Cross Born on 6 May 1928 at Plastirion, Llanrug, Caernarfonshire, the second son of John and Elizabeth Rowlands. His father was the heir to the Plastirion estate which amounted to approx. 1,200 acres. The family claimed descent from Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, prince of Powys and were also descended from Dafydd, brother of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd; they had resided in the Caernarfon area for nearly two hundred
RUCK, AMY ROBERTA (1878 - 1978), novelist Merioneth, and also had a house in Aberdyfi. Her mother, who came from Llanbryn-mair, traced her family back to the fifteenth-century poet Dafydd Llwyd o Fathafarn and to John Jones of Maes-y-garnedd, Merioneth, in the seventeenth century. In 1886, after a brief period serving with the Liverpool Volunteers, Colonel Ruck was appointed Chief Constable of Caernarfonshire and the family moved to Llwyn-y-brain
SALISBURY, THOMAS (1567? - 1620), publisher . Salisbury published at least four Welsh books in London between 1593 and 1604, viz.: (a) Henry Salesbury, Grammatica Britannica, 1593; (b) William Middleton, Psalmae y Brenhinol Brophvvyd Dafydh gwedi i cynghanedhu mewn mesurau cymreig, 1603; (c) Edward Kyffin, Rhann o Psalmae Dafydd Brophwyd, 1603; and (d) a Welsh translation, 1604, of king James I, Basilikon Doron. Entered by him in the Stationers
SALUSBURY family Lleweni, Bachygraig, and the squires of North Wales he was careful to keep on the right side of the earl. This Sir John must be clearly distinguished from his uncle, JOHN SALUSBURY, fourth son of Sir Thomas Salusbury; unfortunately, in the past, activities, and even the pseudonym, of the uncle have generally been attributed to the nephew. John Salusbury the uncle (nicknamed 'Siôn y Bodiau,' i.e. 'John of the Thumbs
SAMWELL, DAVID (1751 - 1798), naval surgeon and poet to reveal a headstrong and intolerant nature. He assisted in the task of collecting for publication the poems of Dafydd ap Gwilym and of Huw Morys. A portrait of Samwell is reproduced in the first article noted below.
SAUNDERS, DAVID (Dafydd Glan Teifi; 1769 - 1840), Baptist minister, poet, and writer Born January 1769, at Undergrove, Lampeter, son of Thomas and Elinor Saunders, grandson of Evan Saunders, and nephew of David Saunders 'I', both preachers at Aberduar, Carmarthenshire. He was educated at local schools, including that of Dafydd Jones, Dol-wlff, Llanwenog, and was baptised by Timothy Thomas, Aberduar, in July 1784. His family were well-to-do, and he is named among the first

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