Thomas Leyson was a Welsh poet and physician in the 16th century. A member of the gentry, Leyson was born in

Neath Neath (; ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,2 ...

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 ...

circa 1549 and roughly 20 miles from St. Donat's Castle. He studied at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, where he held a fellowship for nearly two decades. Although the exact date is unknown, in the mid-1580s, Leyson settled into a medical practice in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

, where he eventually died. Little record of his family exists, but accounts mention that he was buried beside his wife. Leyson wrote a Latin poem celebrating

St Donat's Castle St Donat's Castle (), St Donats, Wales, is a medieval castle in the Vale of Glamorgan, about to the west of Cardiff, and about to the west of Llantwit Major. Positioned on cliffs overlooking the Bristol Channel, the site has been occupied s ...

, which was translated into English by his friend John David Rhys. He was believed to have formed a friendship with Sir Edward Stradling, a patron of literature and St. Donat's, who donated substantial funding to improve the castle grounds. The construction at St. Donat's is a major theme of the poem, in which Leyson complements Stradling's contributions as patron. Stradling was so impressed by Leyson's poem that he commissioned Rhys to complete the Welsh translation, which is over 100 lines long.

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Notes

16th-century births Year of death unknown 16th-century Welsh poets 16th-century Welsh medical doctors Alumni of the University of Oxford {{UK-med-bio-stub