Bard of Liberty

Geraint H. Jenkins

Description

This is the first full-scale study of the political radicalism of Iolo Morganwg, the renowned Welsh romantic whose colourful life as a Glamorgan stonemason, poet, writer, political activist and humanitarian made him one of the founders of modern Wales. This path-breaking volume offers a vivid portrait of a natural contrarian who tilted against the forces of the establishment for the whole of his adult life. Known as the ‘Bard of Liberty’ or the ’little republican bard’, he moved in highly-politicized circles, embraced republicanism, founded the Gorsedd of the Bards of the Isle of Britain, threw in his lot with Unitarians, promoted a sense of cultural nationalism, and supported the anti-slave trade campaign and the anti-war movement during years of war, oppression and cruelty.

Sujets

• Literary Criticism
• Idioma galés
• Irish
• English
• European
• Welsh
• Scottish
• Wales

Informations

• Publié par: University of Wales Press
• Date de parution: 15 juin 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783165278
• Langue: English

Extrait

IOLO MORGANWG AND THE ROMANTIC TRADITION IN WALES
General Editor: Geraint H. Jenkins
William Owen Pughe, lolo Morganwg 1798, watercolour. Reproduced by kind permission of the National Library of Wales.
Bard of Liberty:
The Political Radicalism of Iolo Morganwg
GERAINT H. JENKINS
Geraint H. Jenkins, 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without clearance from the University of Wales Press, 10 Columbus Walk, Brigantine Place, Cardiff CF10 4UP.
www.uwp.co.uk
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-0-7083-2498-1 (hardback) 978-0-7083-2499-8 (paperback) e-ISBN 978-1-78316-527-8
The right of Geraint H. Jenkins to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 79 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Cover illustration: IoloMorganwg, an etching by Robert Cruikshank. By kind permission of the National Library of Wales.
For Gareth Elwyn Jones the bravest of Welsh historians
IOLO MORGANWG AND THE ROMANTIC TRADITION IN WALES
Other volumes already published in the series:
A Rattleskull Genius:The Many Faces of lolo Morganwg, edited by Geraint H. Jenkins (University of Wales Press, 2005; paperback edn., 2009)
The Truth against the World: Iolo Morganwg and Romantic Forgery, by Mary-Ann Constantine (University of Wales Press, 2007)
Bardic Circles: National, Regional and Personal Identity in the Bardic Vision of Iolo Morganwg, by Cathryn A. Charnell-White (University of Wales Press, 2007)
The Correspondence of Iolo Morganwg, edited by Geraint H.Jenkins, Ffion Mair Jones and David Ceri Jones (3 volumes, University of Wales Press, 2007)
The Literary and Historical Legacy of Iolo Morganwg 1826-1926, by Marion L ffler (University of Wales Press, 2007)
The Bard is a Very Singular Character : Iolo Morganwg, Marginalia and Print Culture, by Ffion Mair Jones (University of Wales Press, 2010)
Contents
Preface
List of Abbreviations
1. On the Banks of the Daw
2. I was always pushing forward
3. When he nobly for Liberty stood
4. The Unparalleled Eventfulness of this Age
5. He is now a seller of seditious Books and will be planting Treason wherever he goes
6. I have as much Cimbric patriotism as any man living
7. I am what I am, and I most fervently thank God that I am what I am
Select Bibliography
Preface
This volume, the last in the series, is devoted to the development and expression of politics in the tempestuous life of Iolo Morganwg. In Victorian times Iolo was depicted as a benign, even saintly, figure, while twentieth-century Welsh scholars for the most part dwelt largely on his so-called malign gifts as a literary forger. Here he is portrayed as a political animal who kept abreast of current affairs, gloried in the ideals of the Atlantic revolutions, and made it his business to make life as difficult as possible for upholders of the ancien r gime . A contrarian by nature, Iolo was no stranger to conflicts and dust-ups. A combination of ill-luck, misadventures, personal slights and his own politico-religious convictions drove him into the arms of champions of reason, toleration and justice. He became one of the founders of the Unitarian movement in Wales and, inspired by Tom Paine s Rights of Man , he joined the republican cause and came to be known as the Bard of Liberty . He took up the cause of the swinish multitude - poor, downtrodden people - and used his gift for satire to express his healthy disrespect for the ruling classes. He campaigned passionately against war and the slave trade and did his utmost on behalf of victims of socio-economic change and political oppression. As a citizen of the world, he understood the importance of establishing cultural institutions which would enrich and sustain the native Welsh culture, and he can justly be considered a shrewd and far-seeing nation-builder. Iolo never abandoned his radical political stance or his commitment to Rational Dissent. He remained true to his values to the very last and deserves an honoured place in the historical annals as a humanitarian and a friend of liberty.
The overwhelming bulk of material relating to Iolo Morganwg is to be found in the National Library of Wales, an institution which is very close to my heart. I heartily salute and thank its staff for giving me unstinting support during the course of my researches into this complex and fascinating collection of manuscripts. I also readily acknowledge my debt to the staff of the British Library, Bristol Record Office, Cardiff Central Library, Dr Williams s Library, Gwent Record Office, Glamorgan Archives and West Glamorgan Archives Service. I have benefited immensely from the knowledge and friendship of several of my former colleagues at the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies who contributed to the Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded project on Iolo Morganwg. These include Mary-Ann Constantine, Cathryn A. Charnell-White, Andrew Davies, David Ceri Jones, Ffion Mair Jones and Marion L ffler. I also record my thanks for the financial support I received at different stages from the British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust. The following scholars have helped in a variety of ways, not least in sharing their insights with me in correspondence or private conversation: John Barrell, Hywel M. Davies, Chris Evans, Robert Evans, Martin Fitzpatrick, Ronald Hutton, Brian Ll. James, E. Wyn James, Prys Morgan, Geraint Phillips, Richard Suggett, Huw Walters and David Wykes. All errors which remain are my own.
I am especially grateful to Glenys Howells for scanning the text with an eagle eye and making many invaluable corrections and suggestions, to Nia Davies for processing the work with exceptional care, and to Dafydd Johnston, my successor as Director of the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, for his part in bringing this multi-volume series to a successful conclusion. William Howells kindly spared me the chore of compiling the index. I gladly acknowledge my debt of thanks to the staff of the University of Wales Press, especially Sarah Lewis and Si n Chapman, for their generous advice and support in the preparation of this book. Most of all, I thank my wife Ann from the bottom of my heart for living with Iolo for so long and for praising and cursing him as often as did Peggy, his own equally redoubtable wife.
October 2011 Geraint H. Jenkins
Abbreviations
ALMA
Hugh Owen (ed.), Additional Letters of the Morrises of Anglesey (1735-1786) (2 vols., London, 1947-9)
Bardic Circles
Cathryn A. Charnell-White, Bardic Circles: National, Regional and Personal Identity in the Bardic Vision of Iolo Morganwg (Cardiff, 2007)
BBCS
Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies
BIHR
Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research
CA
The Carmarthen shire Antiquary
CIM
Geraint H. Jenkins, Ffion Mair Jones and David Ceri Jones (eds.), The Correspondence of Iolo Morganwg (3 vols., Cardiff, 2007)
CMCS
Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies
CRhIM
P. J. Donovan (ed.), Cerddi Rhydd Iolo Morganwg (Caerdydd, 1980)
DWB
The Dictionary of Welsh Biography down to 1940 (London, 1959)
EHR
English Historical Review
FHSJ
Flintshire Historical Society Journal
GCH IV
Glanmor Williams (ed.), Glamorgan County History, Volume IV: Early Modern Glamorgan from the Act of Union to the Industrial Revolution (Cardiff, 1974)
GCH V
A. H. John and Glanmor Williams (eds.), Glamorgan County History, Volume V: Industrial Glamorgan from 1700 to 1970 (Cardiff, 1980)
HGB
Geraint and Zonia Bowen, Hanes Gorsedd y Beirdd (Cyhoeddiadau Barddas, 1991)
HHSC
R. T. Jenkins and Helen M. Ramage, A History of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion and of the Gwyneddigion and Cymreigyddion Societies (1751-1951) (London, 1951)
IMChY
G. J. Williams, Iolo Morganwg a Chywyddau r Ychwanegiad (Llundain, 1926)
Iolo Manuscripts
Taliesin Williams (ed.), Iolo Manuscripts: A Selection of Ancient Welsh Manuscripts (Llandovery, 1848)
JMHRS
Journal of the Merioneth Historical and Record Society
JWBS
Journal of the Welsh Bibliographical Society
Lewis: IM
Ceri W. Lewis, Iolo Morganwg (Caernarfon, 1995)
Literary and Historical Legacy
Marion L ffler, The Literary and Historical Legacy of Iolo Morganwg 1826-1926 (Cardiff, 2007)
LlC
Journal of the Merioneth Historical and Record Society
MAW
Owen Jones, Iolo Morganwg and William Owen Pughe, The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales (3 vols., London, 1801-7)
MC
Montgomeryshire Collections
MH
Merthyr Historian
NLW
National Library of Wales National Library of Wales Journal
NLWJ
Oxford Dictionary of National
ODNB
Biography
OED
Oxford English Dictionary
RAEW
Elijah Waring, Recollections and Anecdotes of Edward Williams, the Bard of Glamorgan; or, Iolo Morganwg, B.B.D . (London, 1850)
Rattleskull Genius
Geraint H. Jenkins (ed.), A Rattleskull Genius: The Many Faces of Iolo Morganwg (Cardiff, 2005)
TCHBC
Trafodion Cymdeithas Hanes Bedyddwyr Cymru
The Bard is a Very Singular Character
Ffion Mair Jones, The Bard is a Very Singular Character : Iolo Morganwg, Marginalia and Print Culture (Cardiff, 2010)
THSC
Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion
TLlM
G. J. Williams, Traddodiad Llenyddol Morgannwg (Caerdydd, 1948)
TRS
Transactions of the Radnorshire Society
Truth against the World
Mary-Ann Constantine, The Truth against the World: Iolo Morganwg and Romantic Forgery (Cardiff, 2007)
WHR
Welsh History Review
Williams: IM
G. J. Williams, Iolo Morganwg - Y Gyfrol Gyntaf (Caerdydd, 1956)
Williams: PLP
Edward Williams, Poems, Lyric and Pastoral (2 vols., London, 1794)
WJRH
Welsh Journal of Religious History
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