Robert Hughes (Robin Ddu o Fon) (c.1744–1785) was a Welsh poet.
Life
Hughes was born at Caint Bach, in the parish of
Penmynydd
Penmynydd (; ), meaning "top of the mountain" in Welsh, is a village and community on Anglesey, Wales. It is known for being the birthplace of the Tudors of Penmynydd, which became the House of Tudor.
The population according to the United Kingd ...
in
Anglesey
Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...
about 1744. After receiving an education from the parish priest, he became a schoolmaster at
Amlwch. Later he spent twenty years in London as barrister's clerk.
Ultimately Hughes's health failed; he returned to Wales, acted as a schoolmaster at
Carnarvon, and died of
consumption 27 February 1785, aged 41. He was buried in the parish churchyard of
Llanbeblig, Carnarvonshire, where the
Society of Gwyneddigion, of which he was a founder, erected a monument to his memory.
Works
Hughes's ''Cywydd Molawd Mon'', and a couple of ''
englynion
(; plural ) is a traditional Welsh and Cornish 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 know ...
'' appeared with a brief biographical notice by the vicar of Llanllyfni, Carnarvonshire, in the ''Diddanwch Teuluaidd'', 1817. In the ''Brython'', iii. 376, appeared his ''Cywydd Myfyrdod y Bardd am ei Gariad, pan oedd hi yn mordwyo o Fon i Fanaw; mewn cwch a elwid "Tarw"'', i.e. "The bard's meditation on his sweetheart's setting sail from Anglesey to the Isle of Man in a boat called the Taurus". This is dated 1763. There is a ''Cywydd y Byd'' by him in
John Blackwell's magazine ''Y Cylchgrawn'' (i. 265, 1834), and a ''Beddargraph'' (epitaph) consisting of three ''englynion'' in the ''Greal'' (London, 1805), p. 72. Nine of his poems were published in ''Cyfres y Ceinion'', Liverpool, 1879.
Notes
Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Robert
1744 births
1785 deaths
Welsh poets
Welsh educators
People from Anglesey