Huw Cae Llwyd (c.1431 - c.1504) was a Welsh language poet from

Llandderfel Llandderfel is a village and a sparsely populated community in Gwynedd, Wales, near Bala, formerly served by the Llandderfel railway station. The community also includes the settlements of Glan-yr-afon, Llanfor, Cefnddwysarn and Frongoch. T ...

in the Dee valley of Merioneth as he witnessed in his Cywydd y Wennol (''Poem to the Swallow''). Early in his life he travelled to south east Wales, where he sang the bardic praises of the Uchelwyr or leading families, the Gams, Havards,

Vaughan Vaughan () (2021 population 323,103) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increas ...

s and Herberts, enjoying their wealthy patronage in houses such as Llinwent, Pontwilym, Berthir,

Tretower Tretower ( cy, Tretŵr) is a hamlet in the community of Llanfihangel Cwmdu with Bwlch and Cathedine in the southern part of the county of Powys in Wales. It lies on the A479 road within the Brecon Beacons National Park at the foot of the Black ...

Mitchel Troy Mitchel Troy ( cy, Llanfihangel Troddi, that is "church of St Michael on the River Trothy") is a village and community in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, in the United Kingdom. It is located 3 miles south west of the county town of Monmouth, ju ...

. Many of his

Yorkist The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, t ...

patrons succumbed to the domestic strife of the times, not least after the Battle of Banbury (1469). Later Huw praised Sir Rhys ap Thomas, Henry VII's agent on his victorious march to Bosworth. Unlike his contemporaries in north - east Wales Huw Cae Llwyd rarely appealed to monastic patrons. An exception is Cywydd XXI, asking for a mount from the abbess of the

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

convent at Llanll^yr (Ceredigion) for Sir William Herbert of Raglan. Heavenly patrons however abound: the Saints of Breconshire (Cywydd XLV), those of Rome (XXIX) where he journeyed with his son (in 1475), Jesus and the Saints (XLV). Cywydd XLIV invokes Christ's Passion. Huw describes Brecon, its surroundings and the Rood Screen and Cross in the Priory Church (today

Brecon Cathedral Brecon Cathedral ( cy, Eglwys Gadeiriol Aberhonddu), in the town of Brecon, Powys, is the cathedral of the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon in the Church in Wales and seat of the Bishop of Swansea and Brecon. Previously the church of Brecon Priory ...

). Another poem describes a bardic contest at Tretower. Huw transmitted his expertise to his son, Ieuan ap Huw Cae Llwyd. In old age he returned to the Dee valley, where he was buried in the poetic cemetery at

Llanuwchllyn Llanuwchllyn () is a village and community in Gwynedd, Wales, near the southern end of Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid). It is one of the most sparsely populated communities in Wales. The electoral ward includes the small settlement of Llangywer. The ...

(thus keeping company with Llawdden, Madog Benfrâs,

Siôn Ceri Siôn Ceri (fl. early 16th Century) was a Welsh language poet. His bardic teacher was Tudur Aled and among his surviving work are poems to his patrons from north Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the ...

, Ieuan Llwyd Brydydd,

Hywel Swrdwal Hywel Swrdwal ( fl. 1430 – 1475) was a poet in the Welsh language from Machynlleth, Powys. Hywel composed poems on themes of patriotism and religion. He was the father of two sons, Ieuan ap Hywel Swrdwal Ieuan ap Hywel Swrdwal (?1430 – ?1480) ...

, Ieuan ap Rhydderch and

Tudur Penllyn Tudur Penllyn (fl. c. 1420 – 1490) was a Welsh language poet during the time of the ''Beirdd yr Uchelwyr'', the professional poets of the late Middle Ages. Tudur's place of birth is uncertain, but he was probably brought up in the Hundred of ...

Sources

Leslie Harries, Gwaith Huw Cae Llwyd ac Eraill, University of Wales Press, Cardiff, 1953 Y Bywgraffiadur hyd 1940, Cymmrodorion 1953, p. 377 {{authority control 1430s births 1500s deaths Welsh poets