Myfanwy Fychan facts for kids

Myfanwy Fychan was a Welsh noblewoman who lived in the mid-1300s. She is well-known for a famous love story with a poet. Her story has inspired many poems and songs over the years.

Myfanwy's Story and a Famous Poem

Only one poem by a poet named Hywel ab Einion Llygliw has survived. This poem is very famous. It is an ode, or a special poem of praise, to Myfanwy Fychan. The poem mentions "Castell Dinas Brân," which was a castle.

The poem describes Myfanwy beautifully:

Lliw eiry cynnar pen Aran,
Lloer bryd, lwys fryd o lys Frân.

This means she had "the color of early snow on Aran mountain." It also says she had "the look of the moon, from the court of Brân."

By the time this poem was written, Castell Dinas Brân was already in ruins. It seems that Myfanwy ferch Iorwerth Ddu was the person Hywel was writing about. Myfanwy later married a man named Goronwy Fychan ap Tudur. Both her husband and other poets wrote many poems about her.

The poem by Hywel ab Einion is titled "Ode to Myfanwy Fychan of Castell Dinas Brân." This title might have been added later. It suggests the poem was written before Myfanwy got married. However, it's also possible that the poem is part of a tradition. In this tradition, poets would sing about their love for married women.

You can find the tombstone of Goronwy Fychan in the church at Penmynydd. He passed away in 1382. The tombstone is made of alabaster, a smooth, white stone. It also includes a statue of him and his wife.

How Myfanwy's Story Became Famous

The Poem's Journey to National Fame

The poem by Hywel ab Einion Llygliw was printed in a book called The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales. This book helped the poem become very well-known across Wales. A translation by Thomas Pennant also made sure that historians and people interested in old things knew about it.

Inspiring a Popular Victorian Poem

The old poem inspired a very popular new poem. This new poem was called Myfanwy Fychan by John Ceiriog Hughes. He wrote it for the Llangollen Eisteddfod in 1858. An Eisteddfod is a big Welsh festival of music, literature, and performance. The poem was first published two years later in a book called Oriau'r Hwyr.

This poem by Hughes was typical of the Victorian era. It describes Hywel ab Einion as very lyrical and deeply in love with Myfanwy Fychan. The poem praised Myfanwy's good qualities and beauty. This was a way to respond to a negative report about Welsh education and morality. This report was known as the Treason of the Blue Books. The poem aimed to show the positive side of Welsh people.

The Song "Myfanwy"

Later, the words of the poem were set to music by Joseph Parry. The song was simply titled Myfanwy. It became one of the most popular Welsh songs ever.