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Edward Williams, better known by his
bardic name A bardic name (, ) is a pseudonym used in Wales, Cornwall, or Brittany by poets and other artists, especially those involved in the eisteddfod movement. The Welsh language, Welsh term bardd ('poet') originally referred to the Welsh poets of the M ...
Iolo Morganwg (; 10March 174718December 1826), was a Welsh
antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...
, poet and collector.Jones, Mary (2004)
"Edward Williams/Iolo Morganwg/Iolo Morgannwg"
From ''Jones' Celtic Encyclopedia''. Retrieved 11 June 2009 (only USA, see

.
He was seen as an expert collector of
Medieval Welsh literature Medieval Welsh literature is the literature written in the Welsh language during the Middle Ages. This includes material starting from the 5th century AD, when Welsh was in the process of becoming distinct from Common Brittonic, and continuing t ...
, but it emerged after his death that he had forged several manuscripts, notably some of the Third Series of Welsh Triads.Mary Jones (2003)
"Y Myvyrian Archaiology"
From ''Jones' Celtic Encyclopedia''. Retrieved 11 June 2009 (in US only

.
Even so, he had a lasting impact on Welsh culture, notably in founding the
secret society A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence ag ...
known as the
Gorsedd Gorsedd Cymru (), or simply the Gorsedd (), is a society of Welsh-language poets, writers, musicians and others who have contributed to the Welsh language and to public life in Wales. Its aim is to honour such individuals and help develop and p ...
, through which Iolo Morganwg successfully co-opted the 18th-century
Eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, a ...
revival. The philosophy he spread in his forgeries has had an enormous impact upon neo-Druidism. His bardic name is Welsh for "Iolo of
Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...
".


Early life

Edward Williams was born in Pen-onn, near Llancarfan,
Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( ), locally referred to as ''The Vale'', is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf t ...
, and raised in the village of Flemingston (or Flimston; ''Trefflemin'' in Welsh). He followed his father as a
stonemason Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. Stonemasonry is the craft of shaping and arranging stones, often together with mortar and even the ancient lime mortar ...
. In Glamorgan, he took an interest in manuscript collection, and learnt to compose Welsh poetry from poets such as Lewis Hopkin, Rhys Morgan, and especially Siôn Bradford. In 1773, he moved to
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, where the antiquary
Owen Jones Owen Jones (born 8 August 1984) is a left-wing British newspaper columnist, commentator, journalist, author and political activist. He writes a column for ''The Guardian'' and contributes to the ''New Statesman'', ''Tribune (magazine), Tribune ...
introduced him to the city's Welsh literary community, and where he became a member of the Gwyneddigion Society: he would later also be active in the Cymreigyddion Society. In 1777 he returned to Wales, where he married and tried farming, but without success. During this time he produced his first forgeries. Williams's son, Taliesin (bardic name, Taliesin ab Iolo), whom he had named after the early medieval bard
Taliesin Taliesin ( , ; 6th century AD) was an early Britons (Celtic people), Brittonic poet of Sub-Roman Britain whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the ''Book of Taliesin''. Taliesin was a renowned bard who is believed to ...
, later went on to collect his manuscripts in 26 volumes, a selection being published as the '' Iolo Manuscripts'' by the
Welsh Manuscripts Society The Welsh Manuscripts Society, also known as the Society for the Publication of Ancient Welsh Manuscripts, was an organisation formed in Abergavenny, Wales, in 1837. It was led by prominent members of the clergy and other notables including Tali ...
in 1848.


Literary career

From an early date Williams was concerned with preserving and maintaining the literary and cultural traditions of Wales. He produced a large number of manuscripts as evidence for his claims that ancient
Druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. The druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no wr ...
ic tradition had survived the Roman conquest, the conversion of the populace to
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
, the persecution of bards under King
Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...
, and other adversities. His forgeries develop an elaborate mystical philosophy, which he claimed as a direct continuation of ancient Druidic practice. Williams's reportedly heavy use of
laudanum Laudanum is a tincture of opium containing approximately 10% powdered opium by weight (the equivalent of 1% morphine). Laudanum is prepared by dissolving extracts from the opium poppy (''Papaver somniferum'') in alcohol (ethanol). Reddish-br ...
may have been a contributing factor. Williams first came to public notice in 1789 for ''Barddoniaeth Dafydd ab Gwilym'', a collection of the poetry of the 14th-century Dafydd ap Gwilym. Included were a large number of hitherto unknown poems by Dafydd that he claimed to have found; these are regarded as Williams's first forgeries. His success led him to return to
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in 1791, where he founded the
Gorsedd Gorsedd Cymru (), or simply the Gorsedd (), is a society of Welsh-language poets, writers, musicians and others who have contributed to the Welsh language and to public life in Wales. Its aim is to honour such individuals and help develop and p ...
, a community of Welsh
bard In Celtic cultures, a bard is an oral repository and professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's a ...
s, at a ceremony on 21 June 1792 at Primrose Hill. He organised the occasion according to what he claimed were ancient Druidic rites. In 1794 he published some of his own poetry, which was later collected in a two-volume ''Poems, Lyric and Pastoral''. Essentially his only genuine work, it proved quite popular. Williams worked with
Owen Jones Owen Jones (born 8 August 1984) is a left-wing British newspaper columnist, commentator, journalist, author and political activist. He writes a column for ''The Guardian'' and contributes to the ''New Statesman'', ''Tribune (magazine), Tribune ...
and William Owen Pughe on '' The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales'', a three-volume collection of medieval Welsh literature published in 1801–1807. This relied partly on manuscripts in Williams's collection, some his forgeries. The forged material included a false '' Brut'' chronicle and a book attributed to Saint Cadoc. The second volume, which collected the Welsh Triads, contained an additional "third series" of forged triads, as well as Williams's alterations to the authentic ones. After Williams's death some of his collection was compiled into ''The Iolo Manuscripts'' by his son, Taliesin Williams. His papers were used by many later scholars and translators, and for reference by Lady Charlotte Guest as she translated the prose collection ''
Mabinogion The ''Mabinogion'' () is a collection of the earliest Welsh prose stories, compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, created –1410, as well as a few earlier frag ...
''. She did not, however, rely on Williams's editions of the tales themselves, except for ''Hanes Taliesin''. Later still, further Williams forgeries were published in a text known as '' Barddas''.Jones, Mary (2004)
"Barddas"
From ''Jones' Celtic Encyclopedia''. Retrieved 11 June 2009. (For the United States, se

.
This work, published in two volumes in 1862 and 1874, was claimed to be a translation of works by
Llywelyn Siôn Llywelyn Siôn (1540 – c. 1616) was a Welsh language poet and bard. His instructors included Meurig Dafydd and Thomas Llewelyn. Around 1575, he is mentioned under the name Lewelyn John by Sir Edward Mansel in his ''History of the Norman Conque ...
, detailing the history of the Welsh bardic system from its ancient origins to the present day. Though it contains nothing of authentic Druidic lore, it is the fullest account of the mystical cosmology Williams developed. Other works by Williams include the " Druid's Prayer", still used by the Gorsedd and by neo-Druid groups, a treatise on Welsh
metrics Metric or metrical may refer to: Measuring * Metric system, an internationally adopted decimal system of measurement * An adjective indicating relation to measurement in general, or a noun describing a specific type of measurement Mathematics ...
called ''Cyfrinach Beirdd Ynys Prydain'' ("The Mystery of the Bards of the Isle of Britain"), published posthumously in 1828, and a
hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...
series published as ''Salmau yr Eglwys yn yr Anialwch'' ("Psalms of the church in the wilderness") in 1812.


Philosophy

Iolo's philosophy represented a fusion of
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
and
Arthurian According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a leader of the post-Ro ...
influences, a romanticism comparable to that of
William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...
and the Scottish poet and forger James MacPherson, the revived
antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...
enthusiasm for all things "
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
", and such elements of bardic heritage as had genuinely survived among Welsh-language poets. Part of his aim was to assert the Welshness of
South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...
, particularly his home region of Glamorgan, against the prevalent idea that
North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...
represented the purest survival of Welsh traditions. The
metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...
elucidated in his forgeries and other works proposed a theory of concentric "rings of existence", proceeding outward from
Annwn Annwn, Annwfn, or Annwfyn (; ''Annwvn'', ''Annwyn'', ''Annwyfn'', ''Annwvyn'', or ''Annwfyn'') is the Otherworld in Welsh mythology. Ruled by Arawn (or, in Arthurian literature, by Gwyn ap Nudd), it is a world of delights and eternal youth wh ...
(the
Otherworld In historical Indo-European religion, the concept of an otherworld, also known as an otherside, is reconstructed in comparative mythology. Its name is a calque of ''orbis alius'' (Latin for "other world/side"), a term used by Lucan in his desc ...
) through Abred and Ceugant to Gwynfyd (purity or
Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...
). Outside his shop in Cowbridge was a sign saying his sugar was from plantations that employed no
slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
. However, he contested a will in order to receive a legacy from one of his three brothers, all of whose plantations in Jamaica used slave labour. By 1799 he had become a Unitarian, and was a leading spirit when a Unitarian Association was formed in South Wales in 1802. It was he who drew up its ''Rheolau a Threfniadau'' (Rules and Procedures), published in 1803.


Bardic alphabet

Iolo Morganwg developed his own runic system based on an ancient druid alphabet system, in Welsh Coelbren y Beirdd ("the Bardic Alphabet"). It was said to be the alphabetic system of the ancient druids. It consisted of 20 main letters, and 20 others "to represent elongated vowels and mutations." These symbols were to be represented in a wooden frame, known as ''peithynen''.


Exposure

Towards the end of the 19th century, the grammarian Sir John Morris-Jones was involved in exposing Iolo as a forger, which led to the bard being labelled a charlatan. Morris-Jones called Iolo "hateful" and said it would be an age "before our history and literature are clean of the traces of his dirty fingers." After the First World War, the scholar Griffith John Williams (1892–1963) was the first to make a full study of Iolo's work, consulting original documents donated to the
National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales (, ) in Aberystwyth is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million books and periodicals, and the l ...
by Iolo's descendants in 1917. Williams aimed to find out exactly how much of Iolo's output was based on imagination rather than fact. He established that the poems Iolo attributed to Dafydd ap Gwilym were forgeries. His researches led him to become a defender of Iolo's reputation as well as a critic. It has been suggested that some of Iolo's claims were supported by oral tradition: recent research has revealed that the tale of Ieuan Gethin, a soldier in the Glyndŵr revolt, might have basis in fact.


Legacy

In 1926, in honor of the hundredth anniversary of Morganwg's death, a plaque was mounted at the location of his old shop. It reads: A memorial plaque was erected in 2009, on the approximate site of the first Gorsedd ceremony, held on London's Primrose Hill in 1792, and another memorial stone on Stalling Down near Cowbridge, where the first Gorsedd ceremony in Wales took place in 1795. Such was the extent of his forgery that, even into the 21st century, some of his tampered versions of medieval Welsh texts are better known than the original versions.Rachel Bromwich, ''Trioedd Ynys Prydein''. University of Wales Press, 2006, p. 213. A Welsh-language school in Cowbridge, Ysgol Iolo Morganwg, is named after him, and Super Furry Animals vocalist Gruff Rhys dedicated a song to him on his 2014 album, '' American Interior''.


Family tree


See also

* Geraint the Blue Bard * List of 18th-century British working-class writers


References


Further reading

* *Geraint Jenkins, ed. (2005), ''A Rattleskull Genius: the Many Faces of Iolo Morganwg''. Cardiff: University of Wales Press * Lewis, Gwyneth (1991), ''Eighteenth-Century Literary Forgeries with Special Reference to the Work of Iolo Morganwg'' (D. Phil. thesis, University of Oxford) * *Prys Morgan (1975), ''Iolo Morganwg'' (''Writers of Wales''). Cardiff: University of Wales Press * *G. J. Williams (1956), ''Iolo Morganwg. Y Gyfrol Gyntaf''. Cardiff: University of Wales Press *G. J. Williams (1926), ''Iolo Morganwg a Chywyddau'r Ychwanegiad''. Cardiff: University of Wales Press


External links


Iolo Morganwg and the Romantic Tradition in Wales
Project at the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, University of Wales

(English) in ''Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography'' (DUUB)

(English text only) at Internet Sacred Text Archive

(English text only) at Internet Sacred Text Archive
Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales, Antiquaries in Wales
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morganwg, Iolo 1747 births 1826 deaths Bards of the Gorsedd Forgers Literary forgeries Mythopoeic writers Neo-druids People from Glamorgan Pseudepigraphy St Athan Stonemasons Welsh-language poets Welsh poets Welsh Unitarians Creators of writing systems