Alis ferch Gruffudd ab Ieuan ap Llywelyn Fychan or Alis Wen ("Alice the White"; 1520–?) was a 16th-century

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

who wrote in Welsh. She wrote several ''

englyn (; plural ) is a traditional Welsh short poem form. It uses quantitative metres, involving the counting of syllables, and rigid patterns of rhyme and half rhyme. Each line contains a repeating pattern of consonants and accent known as . Ear ...

ion'' on matters of her personal and family life, and a ''

cywydd The cywydd (; plural ) is one of the most important metrical forms in traditional Welsh poetry ( cerdd dafod). There are a variety of forms of the cywydd, but the word on its own is generally used to refer to the ("long-lined couplet") as it is ...

'' aimed at reconciling two men.

Early life

Alis was the daughter of the "gentleman poet" Gruffudd ab Ieuan ap Llywelyn Fychan ( 1485–1553) of

Llannerch Llannerch (sometimes spelled Llanerch) was a commote in the cantref of Dyffryn Clwyd which later became the Marcher Lordship of Ruthin. Situated in an area south of Ruthin the commote covered an area of which included the parishes of Llanfai ...

(today's

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

in North Wales) and his first wife Sioned (Janet) ferch Rhisiart ab Hywel of

Mostyn Mostyn is a village and Community (Wales), community in Flintshire, Wales, and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward lying on the estuary of the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, located near the town of Holywell, Flin ...

(died 1540). Her two sisters, Catrin and Gwen, were also poets.

Bardic poetry

Alis Wen composed a series of ''

ion'' (short poems) discussing the kind of husband which she wished to marry and commenting on her father's second marriage in old age to Alice Owen, daughter of John Owen of Llansantffraid. Alis also wrote a ''

'' (a series of seven-syllable lines in rhyming couplets, with all lines written in

cynghanedd In Welsh-language poetry, ''cynghanedd'' (, literally "harmony") is the basic concept of sound-arrangement within one line, using Stress (linguistics), stress, alliteration and rhyme. The various forms of ''cynghanedd'' show up in the definitions ...

) to in an attempt to reconcile Dafydd Llwyd Llydan and Grigor y Moch.

Personal life

Alis ferch Gruffudd ab Ieuan ap Llywelyn Fychan married David Lloyd ap Rhys of

Vaynol Vaynol or ''Y Faenol'' ( Welsh ) is a country estate dating from the Tudor period near Y Felinheli in Gwynedd, North Wales (). It has of park, farmland, and gardens, with more than thirty listed buildings, surrounded by a wall which is long ...

, an estate in

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

, in about 1540. Her husband was descended from the Lloyds of Wigfair, one of the families who made up the Fifteen Tribes of North Wales. They had four recorded children: John Lloyd (died 1615), who became registrar of the

diocese of St Asaph The Diocese of Saint Asaph is a diocese of the Church in Wales in north-east Wales, named after Saint Asaph, its second bishop. Geography The Anglican Diocese of St Asaph in the north-east corner of Wales stretches from the borders of Cheste ...

; Thomas Lloyd of Vaynol (died 1602); William Lloyd, who became rector of

Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant () is a village and Community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales; about 9 miles west of Oswestry and 12 miles south of Llangollen, on the B4580 road. It lies near the foothills of the Berwyn range, Berwyn mountains on the r ...

, Llanfechain and Llanwrin, 1590–1600, and

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

St Asaph Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saints Asaph and Cyndeyrn, commonly called St Asaph Cathedral (), is a cathedral in St Asaph, Denbighshire, north Wales. It is the episcopal seat of the Bishop of St Asaph. The cathedral dates back 1,400 years, while t ...

, 1587–1600; and Edward Lloyd (died 1639), who became

proctor Proctor (a variant of ''wikt:procurator, procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: # In law, a proctor is a historica ...

St Asaph St Asaph (; "church on the Elwy") is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and community (Wales), community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census the community had a population ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alis Wen 1520s births 16th-century deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death unknown 16th-century Welsh poets 16th-century Welsh women writers Welsh women poets Welsh-language poets